NEWS
A Deal for Coronavirus Fiscal Relief
We recently had the honor of testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee on the effects of inaction on coronavirus fiscal legislation. One of us was invited by the Republicans and the other by the Democrats. The basis of the hearing was the Heroes Act, a $3 trillion bill that passed the House in the spring on a party line vote with about $1 trillion in tax cuts and $2 trillion in new spending.
Brand-name Drugmaker Tactic ‘Product Hopping’ Costs US Healthcare System $4.7 Billion Annually, Study Says
“An anti-competitive tactic used by brand-name drugmakers called product hopping costs the U.S. healthcare system at least $4.7 billion annually, according to a study from Matrix Global Advisors.”
New Report Shows Brand Drug Product Hopping Costs Billions for Patients and Healthcare System Each Year
Report details five instances of product hopping that collectively cost $4.7 billion annually.
Families Need More Pandemic Tax Relief, Democrats Say
“But Alex Brill of the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute said Congress shouldn’t approve more costly economic recovery payments because they aren’t well targeted toward households directly impacted by the pandemic.”
Efficient and Targeted Tax Policy During the Coronavirus Pandemic
My testimony begins with an overview of the economic impact of the pandemic and our current economic situation.
Demand for FDA Action Amid Shuffle
“That’s an impossible bar to clear, writes Alex Brill, an economist with Matrix Global Advisors and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, in a new report sponsored by the PBM lobby Pharmaceutical Care Management Association.”
New MGA Report on the Negative Economic Impact of Restricting Drug Rebates in Medicare Part D
Matrix Global Advisors (MGA) today released a new report, “Negative Economic Impact of Restricting Drug Rebates in Medicare Part D,” by MGA founder and CEO Alex Brill. The report looks at a July 2020 Executive Order on prescription drug rebates that invokes a proposed regulatory change President Trump withdrew a year earlier.
US Chamber of Commerce Launches Campaign to Defend Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance
“The Chamber of Commerce cites a new report from economic policy consulting firm Matrix Global Advisors on the negative economic effects of expanded Medicare and a public option.”
New MGA Report on the Negative Economic Effects of Medicare Buy-In and Public Option Proposals
Matrix Global Advisors (MGA) today released a new report, “The Negative Economic Effects of Medicare Buy-In and Public Option Proposals,” by MGA founder and CEO Alex Brill.
COVID-19 and Nursing Homes: National Updates and Early Evidence on the Second Wave
Evidence from the initial coronavirus outbreaks within the United States has shown that the fate of nursing home residents is tightly linked to the severity of the virus within the nursing home’s state. With a “second wave” of COVID-19 in many southern states and a host of policy changes, it is worth investigating whether the evidence suggests this vulnerable group is now better protected.
Toward a Better Employee Retention Tax Credit
Lawmakers in both chambers of Congress have staked out positions on expanding the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC), a refundable tax credit that provides temporary wage support to help employers retain or rehire workers.
A Tax Incentive, Not a Spending Program, to Boost Employment
Congress faces several critical choices before departing for their August recess. Should the $600-per-week additional unemployment insurance (UI) benefit (which has resulted in five of six workers earning more in unemployment benefits than wages) be extended, modified, or allowed to expire at the end of July?
House Committee Calls for CMS Action on Biosimilars
“‘One of the ways to align these incentives would be for CMS, in particular the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation, to launch a demonstration project, a shared savings program in Medicare Part B for biosimilars. This would reward physicians for increasing their utilization of biosimilars, which would both create that incentive for physicians and align that incentive with the desire of taxpayers to lower overall costs in the biologic spend category,’ [Alex Brill] said.”
The Evolving Opioid Crisis
As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept across our country and claimed more than 100,000 lives in a few short months, the opioid epidemic, which dates back to at least the early 2000s, has received less attention. But the toll of the opioid crisis in the United States remains enormous by any measure.
The Economic Cost and Spatial Diffusion of the Opioid Crisis, 2009–18
Recent data show a small decline in opioid-related mortality following a decade during which opioid-related mortality more than doubled to nearly 53,000 in 2018. However, the aggregate statistics mask important spatial and temporal trends in the data. This report estimates nationwide, regional, and county-level economic costs associated with the opioid crisis.