Cathy has covered US regulation and reimbursement policy for the biopharma industry since 2004, starting with the establishment of the Medicare Part D program. Since then, she has written extensively about developments in all major sectors of the US insurance market (Medicare, Medicaid and commercial plans). She has covered key legislation affecting biopharma, including the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act which created Part D, health care reform under President Obama, and the Inflation Reduction Act which establishes a government price negotiation program in Medicare for the first time and redesigns of the Part D benefit. She has closely followed the increasing influence of pharmacy benefit managers and their use of formulary negotiations and rebates to control pricing. Cathy also has covered developments in health technology assessments, including the growing influence of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, and has monitored industry progress on novel drug contracting that reflects value-based pricing. She has worked as a health care reporter and editor while raising three daughters. Cathy lives outside DC in Bethesda, MD, with her husband Sean.
Latest from Cathy Kelly
For the Trump Administration, the blockbuster GLP-1 drugs for obesity have become a poster child for the disparity between US and foreign prices.
The new FTC chair addressed concerns that staffing cuts will undermine the commission’s commitment to pharmacy benefit manager oversight.
Research would include initiatives on reproducing industry-sponsored studies, postmarket surveillance, and studies of long-term neurodevelopmental and metabolic outcomes for commonly prescribed pediatric drugs.
Research would include initiatives on reproducing industry-sponsored studies, postmarket surveillance, and studies of long-term neurodevelopmental and metabolic outcomes for commonly prescribed pediatric drugs.
The FDA is not currently signaling that stringent rules for the process will be relaxed, but the agency's change in approach is notable.
MFN policy would would apply to all single source drugs in all insurance markets, according to HHS release. Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the department is discussing the plan with drug sponsors.