Why it matters: Pharmaceutical companies see promise in gene therapies and are willing to pay a large premium for them, but the treatments also come with record-high price tags. Spark has an $850,000 gene therapy to treat a rare eye condition, and a separate product is in the works for hemophilia.
States in the Midwest, South and West have the highest proportions of Medicare members enrolled in Medicare Advantage. Some states have more than 40% of their Medicare population in the taxpayer-subsidized private plans.
The big picture: Roughly a third of all Medicare enrollees are in MA, a program that has garnered bipartisan support despite its shortcomings, and some Wall Street estimates think MA will be the majority option by 2021.
