Author: Thornrun

A recent article from Skilled Nursing News covered TRP’s Senior Vice President Andrea Maresca’s presentation on Medicaid issues at the American Health Care Association convention earlier this month. During the presentation, Maresca pointed out that the federal government is starting to take a closer look at supplemental programs that offset low reimbursement from Medicaid in skilled nursing facilities (SNF) – a concern that has come from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and several other governmental agencies. She astutely noted that these concerns are pushing the agency to develop regulations that boost transparency and provide clear rules of the road for the functionality of supplemental payment programs, saying that the agency can’t effectively evaluate SNFs under the current statutes. “All of this is driving work in the agency to come up with a regulation that will put more parameters about how supplemental payment programs would work in the future,” said Maresca. “The agency is also concerned about the lack of a clear link between how payments are made to providers, and whether these are made based on services delivered or somehow tied to quality and outcomes.”

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In a recent article for Inside Health Policy, TRP’s Senior Vice President Shea McCarthy was quoted discussing the ideological split between lawmakers on fixes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). As the article highlights the tensions over state reinsurance waivers, McCarthy noted that these these statewide debates are reflective of the “philosophical dissonance” between the Trump administration and Congressional Democrats on health care policy. “While Democrats have spent their energy talking about increasing coverage and consumer protections, CMS is hammering home a message about cost,” said McCarthy. “The debate over 1332 waivers may be reflective of this tension, but it’s also indicative of where they stand in the broader health policy discussion on everything from Medicare for All to reforming the Medicaid program.”

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Thorn Run Partners’ Senior Vice President Shea McCarthy provided an overview of the Congress’s work to balance competing drug pricing priorities in a recent article for Inside Drug Pricing. As Congressional lawmakers walk this policy tightrope, McCarthy acutely pointed out that there’s an overarching desire among stakeholders to help consumers at the pharmacy counter while mitigating potential disruptions to research and development. “It makes sense that there appears to be growing interest in reforms that would remove some burden from patients without posing a threat to innovation,” McCarthy stated.   

Continue reading “TRP’s McCarthy Offers Insight on Congressional Drug Pricing Debate For IHP Article”