Economists at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services argue that a federal drug discount program meant to help safety-net hospitals now gives hospitals financial reasons to overuse expensive drugs and expand through consolidation. The policy brief from the department's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation was reported Oct. 8 by Fierce Healthcare.
The brief is an internal agency analysis rather than a peer-reviewed study. Its authors include HHS Chief Economist and Chief Regulatory Officer Casey B. Mulligan, and it supports a Medicare payment cut the administration has proposed. Hospital groups strongly oppose that cut.
