Just the highlights this week.
The Biden administration will roll back permission granted to states by the Trump administration to enact Medicaid work requirements. While states that were granted permission have largely been prevented from implementing them in the courts, in one state (Arkansas), approximately 18,000 were purged from the program as a result of the reporting requirements. In the absence of universal health coverage, Medicaid policy is particularly important for the diabetes community. People with diabetes are disproportionately represented in the program, and enrollment has been shown to improve self-management and self-reported health status.
Kaiser Health News outlined a few state bills aimed at overall drug cost reduction, such as rate-setting for the most popular drugs to Canadian prices in state-regulated plans and taxes on price increases.
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers released his plan for drug prices, including a $50 copay cap on insulin for state-regulated plans, an insulin safety net program, and a state drug affordability board.
Two insulin bills passed the Iowa State House that will move on to the Senate. The first amends Iowa’s prescription law to allow pharmacists to refill scripts for insulin, inhalers, and epinephrine in an emergency when a doctor is not available. The second is a copay cap on state-regulated plans.
Democrats are attempting to include a provision in the COVID stimulus to repeal the so-called “Medicaid rebate cap.” The idea is that states can charge rebates over 100% of the price of certain drugs so that the state can recoup money incurred by drug price hikes.
Insulin remains stable at higher temperatures than previously thought, according to a study from Médecins Sans Frontières and the University of Geneva. This is good news for people with diabetes who live in certain climates as well as those in refugee settings, and well — really everyone on this rapidly warming planet.
A study in the New England Journal of Medicine of the drug semaglutide, a type 2 diabetes drug marketed by Novo Nordisk under the brand name Ozempic, suggests the drug may be remarkably effective for weight loss. But like insulin, Ozempic is enormously expensive, with a list price of nearly $1000 per box.
Two podcasts worth your time:
The Beta Cell Podcast talked about the Dexcom Super Bowl ad.
Death Panel, a leftist podcast about health policy, aired their second annual Medicare for All Week — six episodes exploring the potential of Medicare for All to transform society beyond just extending health coverage to everyone.
T1International is soliciting feedback from the diabetes community about its values and equity statement. Here is the survey for those interested in contributing.
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-EP