Weekend update

The Office of Management and Budget announced Friday night

Today, the President signed a continuing resolution that brings employees back to work and reopens many government functions. All employees who were on furlough due to the absence of appropriations may now return to work. You should reopen offices in a prompt and orderly manner.

Congress remains in session this week on Capitol Hill. Both the House Oversight and Reform Committee and the Senate Finance Committee will be holding hearings on Tuesday morning, January 29, about reducing prescription drug prices. Last week the Chairman Sen. Charles Grassley and Ranking Member Sen. Ron Wyden of the Senate Finance Committee introduced a bill to "crack down on big pharma games." The first witness at the Senate hearing is a woman whose child's insulin-dependent diabetes.

The opening witness at the Senate Finance Committee hearing will be a woman whose child is an insulin dependent diabetic. Health Payer Intelligence reports that the point of sale price of insulin doubled from 2012-2016 according to a Health Car Cost Institute study. The article notes that

Drug manufacturers are currently taking most of the heat for pricing issues, but insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers also have a responsibility to control the market – not to mention a financial stake in the matter [a reference to the health plan practice of retaining manufacturer rebates to control plan costs, rather than lower point of sale costs.]

Reuters reports that a new hospital system generic drug manufacturer Civica Rx is poised to roll out 20 products this year in an effort to alleviate hospital shortages.

Modern Healthcare discusses a CVS Health effort to control skyrocketing dialysis costs for patients with end stage renal disease. Health plans must cover these costs for the first 30 months of care before Medicare becomes primary.  CVS's idea is to shift the site of care from outpatient facilities to the patient's home.

One potential driver of companies' apparent enthusiasm for home treatment might be CVS Health's announcement last [April] that it plans to disrupt kidney care by expanding home dialysis, identifying kidney disease earlier and developing new home hemodialysis technology. CVS hasn't released many details, but Dr. Harry Jacobson, a nephrologist and co-founder of the investment firm TriStar Health Partners, described it as a “breakthrough.” He declined to share more detail because of a confidentiality agreement with the company. “It's disruptive and it's my opinion that it will be a real catalyst for increasing home hemodialysis,” he said.