by Gordon Hensley | Jun 12, 2023 | CMS, Communications, COVID, FDA, health care, HHS |
When Covid began to run roughshod over the U.S in mid-2020 I had an opportunity to work as a “senior advisor” at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). I spent much of my time working with Covid “testing czar” Brett Giroir and...
by Gordon Hensley | Feb 23, 2021 | advocacy, Business, Campaign 2020, CDC, CMS, COVID, health care, HHS, Media Relations, Pharmaceutical, SNF, state government, Trump
Kudos to CBS Face the Nation moderator Margaret Brennan for her excellent interview of former Trump Administration Deputy National Security Advisor, Matthew F. Pottinger, surrounding several facets of the Trump Administration’s COVID-19 response. The discussion...
by Gordon Hensley | Jun 18, 2019 | advocacy, Business, CMS, health care, Medicaid funding, Pharmaceutical, state government
With pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) under a cloud of their own making due to a business model wholly dependent upon opaque, non-transparent drug pricing practices, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently prohibited yet another controversial PBM...
by Gordon Hensley | Feb 21, 2019 | advocacy, Business, CMS, health care, lobbying, Medicare Cuts, Pharma, U.S. House, U.S. Senate
Among the most complex but significant issues in the unfolding debate about prescription drug pricing reform is pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) rebates — or, so-called “rebates” — as many objective observers see them as kickbacks or opaque...
by Gordon Hensley | Mar 10, 2018 | advocacy, Business, CMS, health care, Health Reform, Pharma, Trump
This week marked a true rarity for the Trump Administration: a coordinated, effective burst of reform-minded tough talk from three separate health policy leaders, in three consecutive days. In rat-tat-tat fashion, his HHS Secretary, CMS Administrator and FDA...
by Gordon Hensley | Mar 1, 2018 | advocacy, Business, CMS, health care, Pharma, SNF
It’s an election year. Congress has to appear to be “doing something” about the opioid epidemic engulfing communities across the U.S. The good news, it is: Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) introduced a bipartisan bill this week, the “CARA 2.0 Act of...