Insights: Healthcare

NIH funding has seen some increased visibility as an issue in recent days, with the release of the White House’s formal FY26 budget proposal – which calls for cutting NIH’s funding by ~$18b (~40%) from FY25 levels – and NIH Direct Bhattacharya testifying before the Senate Appropriations Health Subcommittee regarding the President’s budget and...

Pharmacy Benefit Managers

In recent weeks, CVS Health, Cigna’s Express Scripts, and the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) – the trade association representing PBMs – have filed separate federal lawsuits seeking to block implementation of a first-of-its-kind Arkansas law (Act 624) that prohibits PBMs from owning or operating pharmacies in the state.

Medicare/Medicaid

As the Senate makes edits to the House-passed reconciliation bill, two key threads of activity are emerging. First, as discussed in our recent comments regarding the broader reconciliation landscape, there are clear indications that the primary areas of concern amongst Senate Republicans regarding the House’s Medicaid proposals revolve around...

Energy, Financials, Healthcare, Macro, Tech / Media / Telecom

Senate Republican negotiations on changes to the House-passed reconciliation bill are intensifying. It appears that changes under consideration in the Senate increase the deficit by ~$600-700b beyond the House-passed bill’s $2.4t deficit impact, though there is consideration of adding provisions to try to close that gap. House conservatives are...

Energy, Financials, Healthcare, Macro, Tech / Media / Telecom

Senate Republicans have indicated that the committees responsible for various components of their emerging reconciliation legislation will be releasing draft text in the next couple of days. The Senate Finance Committee, which is responsible for taxes and entitlement programs (e.g., Medicaid, ACA) is likely to be last, with release of its text...

340b Drug Discount Program

The Federal District Court for D.C. has ruled that the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) has the authority to preapprove the use of 340B rebate models before they can be implemented by drugmakers.