CER Daily Newsfeed

ICER Prioritizes Payers Over Patients in White Paper on Access to GLP-1 Obesity Medications

(4/9, National Pharmaceutical Council: E.V.I.dently Today) comments “Although the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) says their white paper ‘Affordable Access to GLP-1 Obesity Medications: Strategies to Guide Market Action and Policy Solutions’ describes potential strategies and policy interventions to achieve ‘affordable and equitable access’ to new obesity medications (OMs), a close reading of the white paper finds it overlooks evidence, is limited in its framing of the issue, and prioritizes payer challenges over patients.” Full

Drug Pricing Watchdog ICER Offers Ways to Increase Obesity Drug Access

(4/9, Zachary Brennan, Endpoints News) reports “...Pharma-backed groups like the National Pharmaceutical Council opposed the paper, noting that it needs more balance on the value of GLP-1s. ‘A close reading of the white paper finds it overlooks evidence, is limited in its framing of the issue, and prioritizes payer challenges over patients. Solutions must carefully balance considerations of value, affordability and incentives for innovation,’ Kimberly Westrich, NPC chief strategy officer, told Endpoints News via email.” Subscription Required

NCQA Urges Expedited Adoption of Digital Quality Measures

(4/9, David Raths, Healthcare Innovation) reports “...The organization also recommends that HHS accelerate alignment with the CMS Universal Foundation across HHS quality reporting and value-based payment programs, and also that ASTP and other federal agencies clarify how the USCDI+ Quality dataset will interact with regulations. ‘Establishing a clear pathway for integrating USCDI+ datasets into regulatory frameworks will be vital to achieving true interoperability of quality data,’ the report said.” Full