ISPOR Europe Panels

I will be presenting two panels at ISPOR Europe 2024 in Barcelona next week! This year’s conference theme centers on the importance of scientific evidence in understanding and improving the health and well-being of people across the globe. Panel 1: Broader Value Elements: Methods to Quantify Each and Their Relevance for European Markets Monday, Nov…

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Medicare Spent an Average of 27% More on People Who Switched from Medicare Advantage to Traditional Medicare Compared to Those Who Were Only in Traditional Medicare

A new KFF analysis finds higher Medicare spending among people who switched from Medicare Advantage to traditional Medicare than for similar beneficiaries who were in traditional Medicare all along. Medicare spent an average of 27% more on such beneficiaries, according to the analysis, which examined health costs in traditional Medicare for both groups in the…More

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The Art of Political Jiu-Jitsu: Project 2025 and Donald Trump

By MIKE MAGEE Funny think about that Project 2025’s  “Mandate for Leadership.” Trump declared in this week’s  debate, “I know nothing about it.” But in addition to the vast majority of authors and editors of the document having served in the prior Trump administration, the former President’s name is mentioned in the 887 page document…

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What makes a drug “special”?

A recent paper by Kacerek and Mattingly (2025) aims to answer why certain drugs are defined as “specialty” drugs and others are not. They first cite an Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report: The OIG found that there was no standard definition in Medicaid and that Medicaid programs used more than 100 different characteristics to…

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In Crowded Market for a Rare Disease, Ionis Bets Patients Will Switch to Its New First-in-Class Drug

The FDA approved Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ Dawnzera for preventing swelling attacks caused by the rare disease hereditary angioedema. A Takeda Pharmaceutical product dominates this market, but Ionis has clinical data showing patients had better outcomes after switching to Dawnzera from Takeda’s drug and other currently available HAE medications. The post In Crowded Market for a Rare…

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