A group of 207 organizations strongly support the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Act (S. 4293) and urge Sens. Chuck Schumer (D, N.Y.) and Mitch McConnell (R, Ky.) to quickly bring it for a vote in the full Senate. The bill was introduced by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D, Wash.) and Chuck Grassley (R, Iowa) in May and passed the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in June. “We applaud the recent efforts of the Commerce Committee to advance S. 4293 on a bipartisan basis as this legislation would bring needed transparency to and ultimately stop PBM-insurers’ unjust and deceptive practices, especially as the three largest PBM-insurers now control at least 80 percent of the market,” the organizations wrote in a letter sent [...]

With a pledge from COVID-19 vaccine makers to have reformulated doses ready for rollout by September, the Biden administration is pausing plans to widen availability of second boosters until then. Only Americans aged 50 years and older or those aged 12 and older with compromised immune systems currently qualify for a second booster dose. Officials were contemplating offering the doses to additional groups this summer, but instead will kick off a booster campaign timed to coincide with the manufacturers' fall timeline. Those doses are hoped to be more effective against Omicron subvariant BA.5, which now accounts for most infections. All adults will likely be cleared to receive them, sources reveal, and some minors as well. That being said, health officials [...]

U.S. adults seeking primary protection against coronavirus now have a fourth option, after Ceners for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, endorsed the Novavax vaccine on the advice of expert advisers. The Maryland-based manufacturer told CDC that slightly more than 1 million doses of its vaccine have been administered on a global basis as of June 30. The tally is much lower than for competing vaccines, and regulatory approval in the United States is not expected to have much immediate impact here, either. Still, CDC estimates that as many as 37 million American adults have yet to be immunized against coronavirus, and Novavax hopes its vaccine might appeal to those who have declined the other options. Findings [...]

The Biden administration is reminding about 60,000 retail pharmacies that they still must provide abortion pills, birth control and other reproductive care treatments under federal civil rights laws. The guidance (PDF), sent by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Wednesday, comes in response to the Supreme Court decision to overturn a constitutional right to abortion. It is the latest move by the administration to ensure abortion access and comes on the heels of another guidance to providers that abortion remains a part of emergency care. “HHS is committed to ensuring that everyone can access health care, free of discrimination,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra in a statement. “This includes access to prescription medication—including birth control, miscarriage management, and medication [...]

CVS LEAVES NACDS: CVS Health has left the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, according to the poltical newsletter Politico Influence. It's leaving the retail pharmacy trade group without one of the country’s largest drug store chains amid a push to rein in pharmacy benefit managers, the largest of which CVS owns. — “While we have made the decision to step away from the association, we are fully committed to advancing and supporting the value of pharmacy and the critical role that pharmacists play as health care providers in their communities,” CVS spokesperson Matt Blanchette told PI. — CVS pharmacies made up almost a quarter of the nearly 40,000 pharmacies NACDS says it represents, and the company’s departure will also cost the trade group a [...]