Bulletin Board
Bulletin Board
Feds Taking Another Shot at 340B Changes
Only a week after a federal court rejected for a second time its attempt to introduce a new approach to administering the 340B Drug Pricing Program, the Health Resources and Services Administration is going back to the drawing board and trying again to launch the model. In its first step, HRSA has issued a Request for Information (RFI) to gather input from interested parties on whether the agency should implement a rebate model under the 340B program and how best to implement such a model. The RFI notes that in [...]
ACA Premium Subsidy Talks Over?
Negotiations seeking to strike a compromise in the elimination of enhanced subsidies for lower-income purchasers of health plans sold on Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges appear to have died a quiet death. Talks between Democratic and Republican negotiators focused on a one- or two-year extension of those subsidies, but once the subsidies ended at the close of 2025 and then Congress enacted an FY 2026 funding bill for the Department of Health and Human Services, those talks appeared to collapse. Learn more about the issues that negotiators stumbled over and [...]
Federal Health Policy Update for February 12
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for February 6-12. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. The White House The White House announced the launch of TrumpRx, a service that will enable consumers to purchase a limited number of discounted prescription drugs directly from the manufacturers of those drugs and in some cases from pharmacies without the benefit of health or prescription drug insurance. Learn more about TrumpRx and its launch from this White House announcement, an accompanying fact [...]
CMS Proposes Major Changes in Exchange Plans
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has proposed sweeping changes in the health plans offered by Affordable Care Act marketplace exchanges. The changes, revealed in CMS’s proposed Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2027, affect both the regulations governing the types of health plans that can be offered on exchanges and how potential buyers of those plans are deemed eligible for those plans. The major changes include: Permitting insurers to offer catastrophic plans with terms of either one year or multiple consecutive years, up to ten years. Repealing [...]
CMS Axes 340B Model
Following two defeats in federal court, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has ended its 2025 attempt to launch its 340B Rebate Model Pilot Program. The program, which would have introduced a new approach to the 340B prescription drug discount program under which a limited number of pharmaceutical companies would pay rebates to 340B-eligible entities after they purchase drugs instead of offering discounts for the purchase of those same drugs, as has been the practice since the 340B program’s launch in 1992. Late last year a federal court ruled [...]