Dear John,

Health Affairs is hiring for a key role in our subscription sales and membership program: Subscription Sales and Services Director. Apply today!

Giving Or Making A Buck?

Under Medicare’s Anti-Kickback Statute, drug manufacturers may donate to patient financial assistance programs for specific diseases that their drugs treat, so long as they are not directly covering enrollees’ out-of-pocket spending.

In the September 2022 issue of Health Affairs, Leemore Dafny and coauthors investigate claims data for roughly one-third of Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollees in 2010 and 2017, along with donations to patient assistance programs.

The authors find that these donations are likely profitable for manufacturers, as average assistance-eligible spending per patient nearly doubled from 2010 to 2017, while cost sharing per patient declined.

Furthermore, half of the drug spending within each condition was attributable to a single manufacturer, and most of the remainder was attributable to two or fewer manufacturers.

The authors indicate that manufacturers could effectively assist in the purchase of their own medications by contributing to condition-specific charities.

You can listen to Dafny discuss her research findings on the 100th episode of A Health Podyssey, which was published yesterday. 

Elsewhere At Health Affairs

Today in Health Affairs Forefront, Omolola Adepoju and coauthors examine how telemedicine has the propensity to exacerbate disparities for marginalized groups

Jeremy Rubel and Ezekiel Emanuel recommend that policy makers seeking to improve the functioning of US health care agencies consider Singapore’s example of important management practices that can be implemented without comprehensive system reform.

Dawne Vogt and coauthors discuss how increased use of psychosocial well-being measures can reduce the current misalignment between questions routinely asked of patients and the goal of improving both patients’ health and their well-being.

John Maa and Jeffrey Wigand argue that the evidence suggests that removing menthol as a cigarette additive at any level—not just at levels in which menthol becomes a “characterizing flavor”—could be an effective smoking cessation strategy.

Much of our content, like our podcasts and the digital publication Forefront, is provided for free. If you like our work, then consider becoming a Health Affairs Insider to show your support. You'll get access to our exclusive events, and a gift for joining, too.

Daily Digest

Giving A Buck Or Making A Buck? Donations By Pharmaceutical Manufacturers To Independent Patient Assistance Charities
Leemore Dafny et al.

Telemedicine During The Pandemic: Leaving The Visually Impaired And Others With Disabilities Behind?
Omolola E. Adepoju et al.  

Strengthening The FDA Proposed Rule On Menthol-Flavored Products
John Maa and Jeffrey Wigand

Beyond Disease And Dysfunction: Asking Patients About Their Psychosocial Well-Being
Dawn Vogt et al.

What US Health Agencies Can Learn From Singapore
Jeremy Rubel and Ezekiel J. Emanuel

About Health Affairs

Health Affairs is the leading peer-reviewed journal at the intersection of health, health care, and policy. Published monthly by Project HOPE, the journal is available in print and online. Late-breaking content is also found through healthaffairs.org, Health Affairs Today, and Health Affairs Sunday Update.  

Project HOPE is a global health and humanitarian relief organization that places power in the hands of local health care workers to save lives across the globe. Project HOPE has published Health Affairs since 1981.

Copyright © Project HOPE: The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Health Affairs, 1220 19th Street, NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20036, United States

Privacy Policy

To unsubscribe from this email, update your email preferences here.