CMS announces GENEROUS drug payment model aimed at lowering Medicaid drug prices

CMS proposes end-of-life counseling provision, echoing ACA “death panels” controversy

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has proposed a sweeping new Advance Care Planning quality measure (MUC2025-020) that would track end-of-life care discussions for patients 18 and older.

July 10, 2026

Vol.52 No.27

By Claire Marie Porter

Podcast The Directors

The Directors: Directors of two Midwestern cancer centers tell us about the challenging healthcare economics in rural areas
“Institutions are feeling crunched in so many different directions”

How’s this for a paradox: The better cancer centers become at keeping patients alive, the more expensive cancer care becomes. This brutal tradeoff hits harder in rural areas, where the cancer burden is higher and the investigator and clinical trial representation is lower.

June 26, 2026

Vol.52 No.25

By Paul Goldberg and Claire Marie Porter

Cancer Policy

Cancer patients could be exempted from Medicaid work requirements if they prove they are “medically frail”

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released a guidance for states on how to implement Medicaid work requirements that will go into effect nationwide on Jan. 1, 2027.

Supreme Court rejects pharma challenges against CMS drug price negotiating powers

The U.S Supreme Court has declined to hear a slew of legal challenges filed by pharmaceutical companies such as AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, and Boehringer Ingelheim.

Unfold AI’s prostate cancer mapping added to regional CMS Physician Fee Schedule

Unfold AI, an AI prostate cancer mapping and clinical decision support platform, is now included in Medicare’s Physician Fee Schedules across the West Coast and Mountain West regions. The regional expansion of Medicare payment for the tool gives urologists and care teams clearer reimbursement pathways in physician office settings, an area that has historically lagged behind hospital outpatient settings for emerging technologies.

May 01, 2026

Vol.52 No.17

Podcast The Directors

The Directors: UPMC’s Byrd and Jefferson’s Chapman speak about avoiding catastrophism and using bridge funding to keep labs open
“There’s a tightening of the belt, and when the belt gets tightened, it has downstream effects.”

In recent months, several directors of cancer centers, appearing on The Directors, a segment of The Cancer Letter Podcast, mentioned that their institutions are increasingly providing small grants—typically in the range of $50,000—to scientists to enable them to keep their labs open.

April 24, 2026

Vol.52 No.16

By Claire Marie Porter and Paul Goldberg

CMS announces GENEROUS drug payment model aimed at lowering Medicaid drug prices

YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN

CMS proposes end-of-life counseling provision, echoing ACA “death panels” controversy

The Directors: Directors of two Midwestern cancer centers tell us about the challenging healthcare economics in rural areas
“Institutions are feeling crunched in so many different directions”

Cancer patients could be exempted from Medicaid work requirements if they prove they are “medically frail”

Supreme Court rejects pharma challenges against CMS drug price negotiating powers

Unfold AI’s prostate cancer mapping added to regional CMS Physician Fee Schedule

The Directors: UPMC’s Byrd and Jefferson’s Chapman speak about avoiding catastrophism and using bridge funding to keep labs open
“There’s a tightening of the belt, and when the belt gets tightened, it has downstream effects.”

Renew today!

Subscriber content

Never miss an issue!

Login

CMS announces GENEROUS drug payment model aimed at lowering Medicaid drug prices

YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN

CMS proposes end-of-life counseling provision, echoing ACA “death panels” controversy

The Directors: Directors of two Midwestern cancer centers tell us about the challenging healthcare economics in rural areas“Institutions are feeling crunched in so many different directions”

Cancer patients could be exempted from Medicaid work requirements if they prove they are “medically frail”

Supreme Court rejects pharma challenges against CMS drug price negotiating powers

Unfold AI’s prostate cancer mapping added to regional CMS Physician Fee Schedule

The Directors: UPMC’s Byrd and Jefferson’s Chapman speak about avoiding catastrophism and using bridge funding to keep labs open“There’s a tightening of the belt, and when the belt gets tightened, it has downstream effects.”

Never miss an issue!

Login

The Directors: Directors of two Midwestern cancer centers tell us about the challenging healthcare economics in rural areas
“Institutions are feeling crunched in so many different directions”

The Directors: UPMC’s Byrd and Jefferson’s Chapman speak about avoiding catastrophism and using bridge funding to keep labs open
“There’s a tightening of the belt, and when the belt gets tightened, it has downstream effects.”