The CMS released a proposed rule that officials said would ensure supplemental payments and financing arrangements in state Medicaid programs are transparent and compliant with federal laws. The Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Rule would require submission of provider-level data on supplemental payments and establish new definitions for Medicaid "base" and "supplemental" payments, among other changes.

More than 1 in 5 Americans responding to a poll said there had been a time in the last 12 months when they or someone in their household could not afford a drug prescribed to them, according to Gallup, and more than 13% said a friend or family member had died in the last five years after being unable to pay for treatment. The poll found a majority of adults, regardless of income level, employment or education status, support legislation designed to reduce prescription drug prices at the expense of drugmakers.

The HHS Office for Civil Rights said it will initiate a federal inquiry into Google's Project Nightingale, a program the company set up to gather and analyze personal health information from millions of Americans through a partnership with Ascension.

The American Hospital Association urged a federal judge to enforce a September ruling that struck down the CMS' site-neutral payment rule before the implementation of the 2020 outpatient prospective payment system on Jan. 1. US District Judge Rosemary Collyer threw out the rule, saying it was not budget-neutral, but the CMS moved forward, arguing the ruling does not apply to the regulation for 2020.

Mylan has received an FDA warning letter outlining contamination concerns at its active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing site in India. The letter noted issues with documentation of how the facility handled contaminated solvents and concerns about cleaning protocols.

Health care and pharma advertising is a billion-dollar industry and it is expected to grow 3.7% in 2020, according to a prediction by WARC. Television ad spend is only expected to grow by less than a percentage point as marketers spend more dollars on digital advertising.