HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/PHARMA: “Fresh from battling the White House and Republicans in Congress over a now-sidelined repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the nation’s hospitals are ramping up for a new fight to keep lucrative pharmaceutical subsidies.
A Trump administration proposal that could take effect in 2018 would cut a subsidy Medicare has given certain hospitals for drugs they buy and administer to patients, such as cancer medications. The subsidy is designed to help hospitals that serve a large number of uninsured patients. The Trump administration said the cut would reduce what Medicare and its enrollees pay for drugs by an estimated $900 million annually, according to a draft of the regulation published last week.
The American Hospital Association and industry executives argue the loss would harm many hospitals currently eligible for the subsidy, including rural and cancer hospitals, which rely on the money to help finance operations.”
-Melanie Evans, “Hospitals Fight to Keep Medicare Drug Subsidies,” The Wall Street Journal online, July 19, 2017 02:36pm