Which Health Tech Companies Are Getting Customer Experience Right? Presented by League

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Featured Story   Bipartisan Lawmakers Are Fighting HHS’ 340B Rebate Push A new bill in the Senate A bipartisan group of senators introduced a new bill this week aimed at boosting transparency and efficiency in the 340B Drug Pricing Program. Notably, the bill would put an end to HHS’ campaign for 304B rebates and block the department from trying a similar program in the future. Provider groups have criticized the rebate model, saying it burdens already cash-strapped hospitals with new administrative and financial costs. The new bill would replace the rebate program with a national data clearinghouse meant to address duplicate-discount concerns. The senators said this approach gives regulators one central system to spot when a drug gets discounted twice. What else would the bill do? It would: —Codify covered entities' ability to use contract pharmacies —Require manufacturers to offer 340B pricing whether drugs go through a covered entity or a contract pharmacy —Bar manufacturers from imposing conditions on 340B access or restricting drug delivery to contract pharmacies —Create a statutory definition of a "340B patient" —Add new documentation and compliance requirements for covered entities, along with registration rules for contract pharmacies and their satellite sites —Require covered entities to adopt a standard financial assistance policy for patients at or below 200% of the federal poverty level —Ban payers from penalizing or discriminating against 340B hospitals and their contract pharmacies What’s next? Next, the legislation heads to committee for review, where drugmakers will likely push back — even as the courts separately decide whether HHS had the authority to try its rebate model in the first place. — By Katie Adams Sponsored   Which Health Tech Companies Are Getting Customer Experience Right? Presented by League A new report from Forrester offers a score card assessing health tech vendors on customer experience for healthcare organizations considering adopting them.   Find out more by downloading your free copy! Top Stories   Is the FDA Returning to Regulatory Flexibility? The regulatory decision Replimune’s Tudriqev received accelerated FDA approval as a treatment for melanoma that has advanced following treatment with a checkpoint inhibitor, a type of immunotherapy designed to block the PD-1 protein. The approval is the latest twist in a roller coaster ride of a journey for the therapy, which in the past year has been rejected and resubmitted twice and last week received an affirmative vote from an FDA advisory committee. The two rejections happened under former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, who did not exercise the same regulatory flexibility as his predecessors when it came to therapies rare and severe diseases. The drug Tudriqev is an oncolytic viral therapy. Injected directly into the tumor, it replicates and kills the cancer cell. The exposed contents of the cancer cell prompt an additional immune response. Why this matters Until Tudriqev, the only FDA-approved treatment for melanoma that has advanced after immunotherapy was Amtagvi, a cell therapy developed by Iovance Biotherapeutics. But Amtagvi is made from a patient’s own immune cells in a lengthy multi-step process. Tudriqev is an off-the-shelf therapy that doesn’t require patients to wait through the manufacturing process. Replimune CEO Sushil Patel said his Tudriqev could become the new first choice treatment after immunotherapy. Soundbite “We do believe Tudriqev will become a new standard of care for patients who progress on a PD-1-containing regimen, and given the size of the patient population, pricing, we believe this represents a significant market opportunity,” he said. —By Frank Vinluan Democratic Senators Urge Withdrawal of Interim Final Rule on Medicaid Work Requirements The skinny A group of 47 senators — 45 Democrats and two independents — submitted a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services urging the Trump administration to withdraw the interim final rule relating to Medicaid work requirements. The issue The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1) created a mandate — effective January 2027 — that will require Medicaid members ages 19 to 64 covered through the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion to prove 80 hours per month of employment, education or volunteering. However, via an interim final rule announced in June, CMS took this a step further by adding conditions to the medical frailty exemption from the work requirements. The new rule now requires that medical frailty be limited to situations in which a person’s condition impairs their ability to meet the work requirement. This means it’s not enough to merely have one of these conditions to qualify for an exemption; beneficiaries have to prove to state authorities that their condition is serious enough that they can’t fulfill the requirements. Soundbite “This rule transforms Medicaid from a health care program into a bureaucratic maze that will fail eligible Americans,” the senators said in the letter. “It will strip coverage not because people are not already working or refuse to work, but because they cannot navigate a complex web of forms, passwords, and deadlines. Implementing ineffective, exclusionary work reporting requirements will create costly administrative barriers and deny Americans access to health care, resulting in poorer health, higher mortality, and reduced financial security.” — By Marissa Plescia Connecting the Dots: How Oral Health Can Enable Whole-Person Care An opportunity According to the CDC, approximately 27 million people visit a dentist each year, but not a primary care provider. Knowing how powerful the connection is between oral and overall health, this discrepancy signals a clear opportunity to identify health risks that might otherwise go unnoticed. Dentists, for instance, are often able to detect early signs of conditions, such as gum inflation that may signal undiagnosed diabetes, to high blood pressure readings taken during routine visits, to oral lesions that warrant further evaluation. These touchpoints create a pathway to timely referrals, helping connect patients to the broader healthcare system sooner. From signs of chronic disease to indicators of systematic conditions, dental care can help shift care toward prevention and early intervention. Barriers Despite this potential, true integration of dental care remains difficult. Fragmented systems, disconnected data, limited inoperability and manual workflows across different sects of healthcare continue to separate payers, providers and partners. Even when goals are aligned, the current infrastructure that is available makes collaboration hard to scale. More connection is needed Oral health is one of the most underutilized, and high impact systems available. A more connected and integrated system doesn’t just improve efficiency; it drives meaningful clinical and financial outcomes. The system enables earlier detection of systemic conditions, supports more effective management of chronic disease and helps reduce total cost of care by preventing unnecessary escalation and duplication. This is particularly important given the strong ties between oral health and conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cognitive health. — By MedCity Influencer Larry Paul Video   Video: What did UHC CEO say in unprecedented meeting with reporters? Debunked: UnitedHealthcare invited reporters and influencers to their Minnesota HQ. Why? Hear the exchange between MedCity editor and the UnitedHealthcare CEO.

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The Missing Piece of Preventive Dental Care Lies in the Bite Historically, prevention has focused on protecting teeth from decay and gum disease. However, long-term oral health is also shaped by how the teeth, muscles, and jaw function together over time.

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