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Important news regarding COVID-19 (Coronavirus) from the NYS of Health Marketplace regarding enrollment and testing: NY State of Health and New York State Department of Financial Services Announcement...Continue reading

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FROM THIS WEEKS HEALTH ACTION NETWORK:Week in Review Hospital Rx Spending: According to a new forecast, hospitals and health systems are projected to spend 4.57 percent more on pharmaceuticals next year. The analysis, released by health care performance improvement company Vizient, projects anticipated trends in drug pricing based on the purchasing patterns of Vizient’s member companies, including community hospitals, pediatric facilities, and academic medical centers. Addi...tional takeaways from the report reinforce the outsized role that prescription drugs will continue to play in driving up health care costs, including the rising price of specialty drugs and how drug shortages will continue and contribute to higher costs for everyone. Rx Pricing: To put a finer point on the above, last month, one drugmaker jacked up the price of one of its products 1,300 percent. That company, American Regent, recently won approval for a revamped version of an old product, Selenium, which it then discontinued in order to clear a path for the new version, Selenious Acid. Neither version is even really a drug, but more of an essential mineral used by hospitals to provide nutrients to patients intravenously. The older Selenium cost around 4 cents per microgram, compared to the 57 cents the company is now charging for Selenious Acid. The aggregate impact of the increase, however, will be significant. For example, the hospitals in the Cleveland Clinic’s network spent approximately $80,000 on Selenium last year. In 2020, those same hospitals will spend nearly $1 million on the new product