A Setback For Massachusetts In States’ Drive To Contain Medicaid Drug Spending
From the article:
States serve as "laboratories of democracy," as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously said. And states are also labs for health policy, launching all kinds of experiments lately to temper spending on pharmaceuticals.
No wonder. Drugs are one of the fastest rising health care costs for many consumers and are a key reason health care spending dominates many state budgets — crowding out roads, schools and other priorities.
Consider Vermont, California and Oregon, states that are beginning to implement drug price transparency laws. In Nevada, the push for transparency includes the mark-up charged by pharmacy benefits managers. In May, Louisiana joined a growing list of states banning "gag rules" that prevent pharmacists from discussing drug prices with patients.
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health law policy pharmaceuticals public health rachel sachs