January 12, 2021 WASHINGTON, DC – West Health Chief Executive Officer, Shelley Lyford, issued the following statement regarding the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) draft national coverage determination for Aduhelm, the controversial Alzheimer’s treatment. West Health is a family of nonprofit, nonpartisan organizations dedicated to lowering healthcare costs to improve aging in America…. Read more »
SAN DIEGO, CA – JANUARY 10, 2022 — Research teams from West Health Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to lowering healthcare costs and improving aging, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed a timely and easy-to-use new assessment program to diagnose and address a lesser-known epidemic among older Americans — malnutrition…. Read more »
Pandemic Causes Americans to Take Harsher View of U.S. Healthcare System WASHINGTON, D.C. — Dec. 14, 2021 — Nearly one-third (30%) of Americans skipped needed medical care in the past three months due to cost, the highest reported number since the COVID-19 pandemic began and a threefold increase from March to October, according to the… Read more »
Analysis of revisions to H.R. 3 estimates lower commercial market premiums and out-of-pocket costs WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 3, 2021 – As Congress revises legislation to reform prescription drug pricing, a new analysis conducted by the West Health Policy Center, and released by its Council for Informed Drug Spending Analysis (CIDSA), estimates that extending inflation penalties to the… Read more »
November 2, 2021 WASHINGTON, DC – West Health President and Chief Executive Officer, Shelley Lyford, issued the following statement after a drug pricing reform agreement was reached as part of the Build Back Better legislation. West Health is a family of nonprofit, nonpartisan organizations dedicated to lowering healthcare costs to improve aging in America. “Today… Read more »
October 28, 2021 WASHINGTON, DC – West Health President and Chief Executive Officer, Shelley Lyford, issued the following statement in response to the Build Back Better framework unveiled today by President Biden. West Health is a family of nonprofit, nonpartisan organizations dedicated to lowering healthcare costs to improve aging in America. “If meaningful drug pricing… Read more »
WASHINGTON, DC – Sept. 29, 2021 – More than 9 in 10 Americans believe dental coverage should be included in Medicare and 73% of Americans believe that high prescription drug prices are impeding the Medicare program’s ability to provide dental coverage for seniors, according to a new West Health and NORC AmeriSpeak survey. Over three-quarters… Read more »
WASHINGTON, DC – Sept. 23, 2021 – Basing new drug launch prices on historical domestic data could limit manufacturers’ power to set extremely high launch prices and could reduce Medicare spending on new drugs by up to 30%, according to a new white paper released today by West Health and its Council for Informed Drug Spending… Read more »
WASHINGTON, DC – Sept. 13, 2021 – Americans under the age of 65 are skipping pills or not filling prescriptions for medication prescribed by their doctor at more than double the rate of the nation’s seniors. Yet in some states, adults under 65 are unable to pay for their drugs at more than three times… Read more »
Public-private partnership aids VA in becoming the largest integrated health network with specialized geriatric emergency care WASHINGTON, DC – Sept. 9, 2021 – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has launched a nationwide movement to improve emergency department (ED) care for older Veterans treated in VA Medical Centers and become the nation’s largest integrated health… Read more »
