AARP Names 2017 Quality Measures Innovation Grant Winners
The winners made strides in diabetes and cancer safety research.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 21, 2017)—AARP announced today that Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) and Tufts Medical Center are this year's AARP Quality Measures Innovation Grant award winners. They will each receive a grant of $150,000 and will have access to OptumLabs' unique data assets to develop innovative quality health measures that address important gaps in diabetes and cancer care.

NCPA Responds to Medicare Part D Proposed Rule Changes
Concerns remain over DIR fees.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (November 20, 2017)—The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) proposed rule for the 2019 Medicare Part D plan year includes important provisions to address concerns of independent community pharmacies and the patients they serve, raised by the National Community Pharmacists Association. In response, NCPA's Chief Executive Officer B. Douglas Hoey, Pharmacist, MBA, issued the following statement:

CMS Proposes Policies to Lower the Cost of Prescription Drugs
The proposed rule eliminates administrative hurdles to providing more affordable prescription drugs and will allow Medicare to combat opioid overprescribing and abuse.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 20, 2017)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule November 16, that includes a number of changes that, if finalized, will ensure that Part D Medicare enrollees have access to more affordable prescription drugs and more robust prescription drug coverage at the pharmacy they prefer. The rule also gives health plans a new tool to combat the opioid crisis.