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In its final hours, the Trump administration fired a parting shot at our nation's most vulnerable patients. On January 19, Medicare officials announced a new payment model that could wreak havoc on the chronically ill. The proposed model—technically put forward by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation—affects Medicare's Part D prescription drug benefit, which relies on private insurers to administer seniors' drug coverage. (Former Vermont governor Howard Dean, 2/24)

We’ve been telling readers about the progressive policy priorities hitching a ride on Congress’s “Covid relief” bill. That includes shoveling billions into the Affordable Care Act, with the goal of making government insurance a middle-class entitlement on the way to Medicare for All. Provisions of the $1.9 trillion bill moving through the House make Affordable Care Act subsidies more generous and available even to the affluent. Buying an ObamaCare policy makes sense if a subsidy shields you from fearsome premiums and out-of-pocket costs; more than 85% of enrollees receive such a subsidy. But those who earn too much to qualify for government subsidies have been fleeing the exchanges. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said last fall that unsubsidized enrollment dropped 45% between 2016 and 2019. (2/24)

Longtime Republican member of Congress Gil Gutknecht was considered a rebel in his party when he proposed making it legal to import prescription drugs from Canada. That was in the 1990s.Today, the market-based approach to lowering prescription drug prices remains illegal. But maybe not for long. A bipartisan plan by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, calls for opening up markets so individuals could buy prescription drugs from Canada. (2/26)

Ever wondered why prescription drugs, such as biosimilars and specialty generics, that are therapeutically equivalent to their originator counterparts don’t get the kind of traction one would expect. Or, why in certain therapeutic classes newly approved drugs that offer distinct advantages over existing treatments don’t achieve the expected uptake. Rebate walls may be partly to blame. (Joshua Cohen, 3/1)