Friday Five: Top 5 healthcare business news items from the MCOL Weekend edition

Every business day, MCOL posts feature stories making news on the business of health care. Here are five we think are particularly important for this week:

To Save On Drug Costs, Insurer Wants To Steer You To ‘Preferred’ Pharmacies

Kaiser Health News reports: One of California’s largest insurers has proposed a change in the benefits of commercial plans next year that would require consumers to pay more for drugs at pharmacies outside an established network.

Kaiser Health News

Friday, March 10, 2017

What Hospitals Waste

ProPublica reports: Just outside Portland, Maine, there’s a 15,000-square-foot warehouse that’s packed with reasons the U.S. health care system costs so much: Shelves climb floor to ceiling, stacked with tubs overflowing with unopened packages of syringes, diabetes supplies and shiny surgical instruments that run hundreds of dollars apiece.

ProPublica

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Ryan brings out slideshow to sell GOP healthcare bill

The Hill reports: Jacket off and sleeves rolled up, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Thursday ditched the podium and delivered a 25-minute TED Talk-like presentation on why the new GOP health bill represents the best, and perhaps only, chance to repeal ObamaCare.

The Hill

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Lawmakers take up Obamacare revision without an independent scorekeeper

The Washington Post reports: Two committees in the Republican-led House have begun drafting sweeping health legislation without the benefit of an objective estimate of its impact from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) — a reckless move, critics say, considering that they are dealing with the well-being of tens of millions of Americans and an industry that accounts for close to one-fifth of the economy.

The Washington Post

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Three Key Senators Ask GAO to Investigate Possible Abuses Of The Orphan Drug Act

Kaiser Health News reports: Building on weeks of mounting pressure to address high prescription drug prices, three influential U.S. senators have asked the government’s accountability arm to investigate potential abuses of the Orphan Drug Act.

Kaiser Health News

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

These and more weekly news items on the business of healthcare are featured in the MCOL Weekend edition, along with the MCOL Tidbits, and more, for MCOL Premium level members.