Here’s OPM’s Open Season announcement which includes a discussion of FEHBP and FEDVIP premiums for 2020. .
Tammy Flanagan has posted a useful Open Season article on Govexec.com. Here’s a key point from the article:
Two health plans will no longer participate in FEHBP in 2020: MVP Health Care, which covers 3,200 employees and more than 4,000 retirees in New York; and Highmark Choice Co. (also known as Keystone Health Plan West), which covers 718 employees and 323 retirees in Pennsylvania. Enrollees in these plans will have to select a new plan during open season. Otherwise, they will be automatically enrolled in the lowest-cost nationwide plan option, which for 2020 is GEHA Elevate {one of the new government wide indemnity benefit plan options.]
On the prescription drug front —
- Fierce Healthcare reports that
A recent survey of major payers found that 58% had executed an outcomes-based contract with a drug manufacturer in 2019, up from 24% in 2017. The survey released Tuesday from the consulting firm Avalere shows that outcomes-based contracts, where the drugmaker is paid by an insurer based on the effectiveness of their product, are gaining steam despite concerns over regulatory hurdles. The survey updates prior versions conducted in 2017 and 2018.
- Healthcare Dive reports
Civica Rx, a coalition of health systems that banded together in 2018 to make prescription drugs, has made its first delivery and a patient has now been treated with one of its medications.
Riverton Hospital, an Intermountain Healthcare facility in Utah, received the first batch of vancomycin hydrochloride, an injectable antibiotic that is commonly in short supply for hospitals across the country, Civica Rx said Wednesday.
The antibiotic will be available to all health systems by the end of the month. Shortly after that, another essential antibiotic, daptomycin, will be made available, according to the company.
- MedCity News reports that the President most likely will nominate Dr. Stephen Hahn. Dr. Hahn currently is the CEO of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
- Fierce Healthcare further reports that
OptumRx has released the second of its quarterly insights in the pharmaceutical pipeline, highlighting five more drugs in development that could have a significant impact on insurers and patients. The third-quarter list stands in contrast to prior reports as most of the featured drugs are emerging treatments for common conditions such as Type 2 diabetes and chronic migraines instead of “orphan” drugs or those targeting rare diseases, which are typically quite costly.
The Centers for Disease Control today released their latest report on the vaping crisis.
The Department of Human Services Office for Civil Rights issued a press release on a HIPAA privacy rule settlement with a Dallas Texas dental practice. The settlement arose from the provider’s over-inclusive response to a Yelp review.