Trending News Today: CMS Releases Guidance on Using Medicaid to Combat Opioid Crisis

On Monday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released guidance aimed at helping states leverage Medicaid to combat the opioid epidemic, The Hill reported. According to the article, the guidance focused on information related to covering services for infants born exposed to opioids and how to enhance federal funding for telemedicine and programs that keep tabs on patients’ prescriptions. Additionally, states may cover addiction treatment services for the parent if they’re eligible for Medicaid at the same time the infant is being treated, the article reported.

Officials with the Department of Health and Human Services have been meeting with pharmaceutical companies to seek voluntary cuts in drug prices, The Hill reported. According to the article, the administration could soon announce a deal to lower the price of insulin for patients paying without insurance. However, it is not clear whether any drug companies have agreed to cut their prices voluntarily, the article reported.

Eli Lilly and Co and AstraZeneca said that they would discontinue late-stage trials testing their Alzheimer disease treatment, Reuters reported. The treatment, lanabecestat, belongs to a class of drugs called beta secretase cleaving enzyme inhibitors, which blocks an enzyme involved in the production of a protein that creates brain plaques, according to the article. The decision to abandon the trials was based on recommendations by an independent data monitoring committee, which concluded that the trials were not likely to meet their primary goals, Reuters reported.