An unexpected policy change has left some hospital outpatient clinics potentially shut out of the government's discount drug program, rattling health systems with a lot of poorer patients that are accustomed to buying medicines at cheaper prices and keeping the savings.
Why it matters: The change means health systems may incur higher drug costs at a time when many are trying to push more care outside hospital walls, to offsite clinics.
Cancer doctors and dozens of lawmakers in Congress are questioning whether the federal health department overreached when it blocked medical practices from mailing specialty drugs like oral cancer and blood clotting treatments directly to patients at the end of the COVID public health emergency.
Why it matters: At issue is the Biden administration's interpretation of a federal anti-fraud law that bars doctors from steering Medicare and Medicaid patients to facilities and services in which they have a financial interest.
