Drugmakers are experimenting with new ways to get paid for their most expensive medicines, as resistance to escalating prices builds and the collection and analysis of patient data improves.

Now that six-figure price tags are common, drug companies are finding creative ways to get reimbursed, from installment plans and subscriptions to more complex value-based contracts that tie payment to when a drug helps a patient. For years, pharmaceutical companies would typically set a price for a drug and then get paid per pill sold….

Drugmakers are experimenting with new ways to get paid for their most expensive medicines, as resistance to escalating prices builds and the collection and analysis of patient data improves.

Now that six-figure price tags are common, drug companies are finding creative ways to get reimbursed, from installment plans and subscriptions to more complex value-based contracts that tie payment to when a drug helps a patient. For years, pharmaceutical companies would typically set a price for a drug and then get paid per pill sold….

— Read the full The Wall Street Journal article

Drug-price inflation, a source of profit and headaches alike for the pharmaceutical industry, is slowing down. That might be better news for investors than it seems.

As has become customary, drug manufacturers raised the sticker price on many medicines as the calendar turned to 2020. Analysts at Morgan Stanley found 2,167 price increases in the first week of January, up 17% from the same period a year earlier….

Drug-price inflation, a source of profit and headaches alike for the pharmaceutical industry, is slowing down. That might be better news for investors than it seems.

As has become customary, drug manufacturers raised the sticker price on many medicines as the calendar turned to 2020. Analysts at Morgan Stanley found 2,167 price increases in the first week of January, up 17% from the same period a year earlier….

— Read the full The Wall Street Journal article

The quality of care at hospitals acquired during a recent wave of deal making got worse or stayed the same, new research found, a blow to a frequently cited rationale for tie-ups.

The quality of care at hospitals acquired during a recent wave of deal making got worse or stayed the same, new research found, a blow to a frequently cited rationale for tie-ups.

Hospital merger-and-acquisition activity has surged in recent years, with executives involved in transactions making the case that greater size will boost quality with new investments and yield other improvements as deal makers benefit from each others’ strengths….

— Read the full The Wall Street Journal article

Record numbers of generic drugs for cancer, heart ailments and other conditions have received U.S. approval in recent years, raising hopes that the new competition would reduce high drug costs. But many of the lower-price medicines haven’t hit the market, a Wall Street Journal review found.

The result: Many patients are forced to take high-price medicines, and a widely touted remedy for reining in drug costs has failed to live up to its promise.

Record numbers of generic drugs for cancer, heart ailments and other conditions have received U.S. approval in recent years, raising hopes that the new competition would reduce high drug costs. But many of the lower-price medicines haven’t hit the market, a Wall Street Journal review found.

The result: Many patients are forced to take high-price medicines, and a widely touted remedy for reining in drug costs has failed to live up to its promise….

— Read the full The Wall Street Journal article

The unexpected death of Kaiser Permanente Chief Executive Bernard Tyson leaves the hospital and health-insurance giant in flux at a time of ambitious growth and it was met with shock by those who praised his work on public health and social issues.

The unexpected death of Kaiser Permanente Chief Executive Bernard Tyson leaves the hospital and health-insurance giant in flux at a time of ambitious growth and it was met with shock by those who praised his work on public health and social issues.

Kaiser, based in Oakland, Calif., gained heft as one of the nation’s largest hospital and health insurance systems with $83 billion in annual revenue under Mr. Tyson. He bet heavily on technology to reach more patients and set plans to expand Kaiser’s reach nationally….

— Read the full The Wall Street Journal article