By Jacob Bell; BioPharma Dive ~ Feb 06, 2017

Dive Brief:

• Express Scripts forecasts large spending increases over the next few years for anti-inflammatory, diabetes and oncology drugs, according to a new report.

• The largest pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) in the U.S., Express Scripts used prescription drug data from its members to compile the “2016 Drug Trend Report,” which analyzes drug spending over the last year and makes predictions through 2019 for some of the most expensive therapeutic classes.

By Jared S Hopkins, Robert Langreth, and James Paton, Bloomberg – Feb. 6, 2017

President Donald Trump says drug prices are astronomical and something needs to be done. Pharmaceutical giants have an answer that doesn’t involve lowering list prices: refunding some of the money to insurers if a drug doesn’t work as expected.

The concept of pay-for-performance isn’t new in the industry. But the number of such agreements between drugmakers and insurers has grown in the past year as Big Pharma seeks to defuse criticism over the soaring prices of some brand drugs, which can cost $10,000 a month or more for cancer treatments.

By Clark Randall; USA TODAY ~ Feb 05, 2017

The financial world is full of confusing acronyms and titles, and it seems everyone touting financial advice has a myriad of bewildering designations after their name. One of the most widely used titles is financial adviser. This label is problematic because it is generic and entirely too broad.

From Adam Brandon; The Hill ~ Feb 03, 2017

Every time Republicans talk about addressing the impending disaster of Social Security, as its reserves dry up, Democrats characterize their attempts to protect and preserve Social Security as attempts to cut benefits. If they took the same tack in a medical situation, they might say your oncologist is recommending cutting you open and removing part of your body (namely, a cancerous tumor).

From Adam Bergman; Forbes ~ Feb 03, 2017

On February 3, 2017, President Trump announced that he will use a memorandum to ask the labor secretary to consider rescinding a rule, better known as the fiduciary rules, set to go into effect in April 2017 that orders retirement advisers, overseeing about $3 trillion in assets, to act in the best interest of their clients.

From Dr. Hagop M. Kantarjian & Michael A. Carrier; The Hill ~ Feb 01, 2017

One might first think that Acthar was an ancient civilization in Mesopotamia or a prison facility in upstate New York.

In fact, it is the most expensive drug for the U.S. government. In 2015, Medicare paid $504 million for H.P. Acthar Gel, an average of $162,300 per patient. So then it must at least be the hottest new drug for cancer or dementia, right? Not so, unfortunately.

By Mary Lou Lang-Byrd; The Washington Free Beacon ~ Feb 01, 2017

President Donald Trump gave hope to the terminally ill and their advocates on Tuesday when he said he would change Federal Drug Administration rules to allow access to experimental drugs not yet approved by the agency.

“One thing that’s always disturbed me:

By Sy Mukherjee; Fortune ~ Jan 31, 2017

President Donald Trump sat down with a host of major pharma company CEOs Tuesday morning to address pressing issues like high drug prices, the future of the FDA, and where treatments are produced. But a number of his demands will have a hard time becoming a reality.

Meeting attendees included CEOs such as: Merck’s (mrk, +0.91%) Ken Frazier; Novartis’ (nvs, +2.24%) Joe Jimenez; Eli Lilly’s (lly, +3.12%) David Ricks; Johnson & Johnson’s (jnj, +0.11%) Alex Gorsky; Amgen’s (amgn, +1.46%) Robert Bradway; Celgene’s (celg, +2.62%) Mark Alles; and Stephen Ubl, head of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) lobbying powerhouse.

By Roger Yu; USA TODAY ~ Jan 26, 2017

That Saturday morning call from an unlisted number? It might be someone calling on behalf of the IRS.

Starting this spring, the IRS plans to use selected private debt collectors to go after overdue federal tax debts, reigniting a previously failed experiment in an effort to boost revenue. The agency, which didn’t respond to a request for comment, hasn’t set a specific start date.

By Troy Parks; AMA Wire ~ Jan 26, 2017

The issue of rising prescription drug prices was one of 2016’s biggest health care headlines, and will likely make news again this year. A group of physicians recently voiced their concerns and one theme carried through all of their statements: the need for more transparency in how prescription drugs are priced.

From 2013 to 2015, out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs rose 20 percent.