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A year ago, I introduced the term pharmacoequity in a First Opinion essay for STAT, and later explored it with two colleagues in the Journal of the American Medical Association. This term describes the goal of ensuring that every individual, regardless of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, has access to the highest quality medications needed to manage their health care needs. (Utibe R. Essien, 8/19)

In June, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced they will be launching an inquiry into the practices of the “prescription drug middleman” industry. These middlemen, known as Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), determine if an insurer will pay for a prescription that is prescribed for a patient. Caremark, ExpressScripts and Optum are some of the familiar gatekeepers and suppliers of medications. (Dinah Miller, 8/24)

Giving billions of dollars in government prize money to drug companies might sound like an idea from the pharmaceutical industry. In fact, it was a sweeping 2013 proposal from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) using “innovation prizes” to put the cures of tomorrow and affordability of drugs today on equal footing. (Caleb Watney and Heidi Williams, 8/22)

As a scholar who has published extensively on the politics of health policy, I’m skeptical that giving Medicare the ability to negotiate prices on a handful of drugs will be as transformative as the law’s backers hope. While a good step, it is unlikely to make a significant difference in how much seniors pay overall for medicine. (Simon F. Haeder, 8/21)