Florida governor hopes his state will be first to import drugs from Canada

Florida's Republican governor wants his state to become the first to import drugs from Canada, and he is asking his friend President Donald Trump for help.
CMS proposes national Medicare coverage for CAR-T therapy

The proposal marks another major milestone for the advanced cancer treatment and could be a windfall for hospitals.
Gilead accused of funneling kickbacks to providers to boost sales

Gilead Sciences is accused of giving kickbacks to healthcare organizations, government agencies, universities and community groups to boost sales of its hepatitis and HIV drugs, resulting in billions of dollars in excess government spending.
Azar: HHS examining insurer policy requiring patients to start over on step therapy

Alex Azar blasted the insurer practice of having a patient start over on step therapy if they switch insurance plans, as HHS aims to apply step therapy to Medicare Part B and D.
Week Ahead: HIMSS19, here we come

The latest and greatest health IT innovations will be on display among the nearly 1,200 vendors. Top level HHS officials, including Alex Azar, Seema Verma and Dr. Donald Rucker, are scheduled to speak.
Democrats introduce revamped Medicare Part D negotiation bill

The proposal led by Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) would let the government override patents if manufacturers don't play ball on drug prices for Part D.
Lawmakers revive Creates Act opposed by Big Pharma

House and Senate lawmakers reintroduced the Creates Act, a controversial bill aimed at curbing tactics brand-name drugmakers use to stymie generic and biosimilar competition.
Q&A: CFO Karen Hanlon says Highmark is moving past the UPMC conflict

Highmark Health CFO Karen Hanlon says the integrated delivery system is focused on expanding some of its value-based initiatives.
Azar suggests commercial plans will ditch drug rebates too

After HHS proposed eliminating the safe harbor protection for Medicare Part D drug rebates, Secretary Alex Azar suggested commercial plans will also get rid of the rebates in order to align with the market.
McKesson expects opioid-related legal costs to exceed $100 million this year

Drug distributor McKesson Corp. says it expects to shoulder more than $100 million in opioid-related legal expenses this year. Both McKesson and AmerisourceBergen downplayed their roles in the opioid epidemic in their respective earnings calls.
HHS suggests getting rid of safe harbors for Part D drug rebates

Under the proposal, price reductions offered by drugmakers to PBMs, Medicare Part D and managed care plans would not receive safe harbor protection as "discounts." Those rebates could be subject to prosecution under the Anti-Kickback Statute.
Prosecutor: Insys founder Kapoor motivated by 'greed' in fentanyl bribery scheme

John Kapoor, the wealthy founder of drugmaker Insys Therapeutics plotted to bribe doctors across the country to prescribe a highly addictive fentanyl spray in order to outshine competitors and line his own pockets, a federal prosecutor told jurors Monday.