James Broughel

December 15, 2021 | Regulation

The US Department of Health and Humans Services (HHS) has proposed a rule that, if enacted, would rescind the Securing Updated and Necessary Statutory Evaluations Timely (SUNSET) rule finalized in January of 2021. The SUNSET rule attaches sunset provisions—i.e., expiration dates—to HHS regulations such that if HHS does not conduct assessments and reviews of regulations in accordance with Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) on a timely basis, then those regulations expire. Section 610 of the RFA requires agencies to develop and execute plans to periodically review regulations for their impact on small businesses.

James Broughel

December 17, 2021 | Regulation

Regulation is pervasive in the United States and touches nearly every aspect of Americans’ lives. The labels on breakfast foods, the flow rate of water in the shower, and the fuel efficiency of cars are all regulated by the federal government. Regulations at the state and local levels affect whether Americans can obtain certain jobs, whether local pharmacists can write prescriptions for simple medications, and whether hospitals can add beds to their facilities. Moreover, the amount of regulation in the United States has grown steadily over time, a process known as regulatory accumulation. Each year new rules get added to the lawbooks, adding pages of new requirements. Yet typically few rules are removed to offset the growth. Thus, the regulatory environment grows more complex and omnipresent each year.

James Broughel and Elise Amez-Droz

December 15, 2021 | Healthcare

The COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult for people to access medications and refill prescriptions owing to stay-at-home orders, financial pressures, and diminished access to medical facilities. For example, there has been a significant decline in new patients initiating therapies, and patients have been more likely to discontinue use of many medicines. However, a solution may be hiding in plain sight: pharmacists can play a greater role in delivering care. Whereas there were around 228,000 primary care physicians (PCPs) nationwide in 2019, there were 315,470 pharmacists in 2020. Pharmacists tend to have more touch points with patients than do physicians. For instance, Medicare beneficiaries visit a community pharmacist almost twice as often as they do a PCP, and these differences are larger in rural areas. Thus, many patients have more experience and perhaps greater comfort dealing with their pharmacist than they do with their own physician.