Latest Updates
Read the latest news that impacts the oncology community.
Progress & Peril in the Proposed 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule
For years, independent community oncology practices have anticipated the release of the annual Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) with trepidation. Historically, reimbursement for critical services like chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and imaging has been cut or not adjusted to account for inflation, making it harder for practices to keep their doors open to care for patients.
Read MoreLong-Lasting Drug Shortages Highlight Fragile Supply Chains and Systemic Market Pressures
Drug shortages remain one of the most pressing challenges facing the U.S. healthcare system, with the vast majority of shortages carrying over from previous years. In the 2025 Annual Drug Shortage Report, experts at the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) identified systemic drivers—including low pricing, manufacturing concentration, production complexity, and quality concerns—that continue to disrupt supply chains and compromise patient care.
Read MoreMedicare Advantage star ratings lawsuit losses pile up
Medicare Advantage insurers have mostly failed to persuade courts that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services should award them higher scores and lucrative bonuses under the Star Ratings program.
Read MoreFDA Rejects Kidney Cancer Drug
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has rejected the biologics license application for TLX250-CDx (Zircaix), an investigational positron emission tomography (PET) agent for diagnosing and characterizing renal masses as clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), according to a news release from the drug’s manufacturer, Telix Pharmaceuticals. This marks the second oncology drug rejection for the company in recent months.
Read MoreHHS Uses Tariff Threats To Push For Lower Domestic Drug Prices
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Tuesday the Trump administration is deep into negotiations with drugmakers using tariffs as leverage to seek a “most favored nation” policy to lower U.S. prescription drug prices -- with the promise that tariffs would be avoided if companies cut prices.
Read MoreFDA Grants Breakthrough Designation for ctDNA Test in Colorectal Cancer
The US FDA has granted breakthrough device designation to the Haystack MRD test, a circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) assay developed by Quest Diagnostics.1 This designation recognizes the test's potential to significantly improve the management of minimal residual disease (MRD) in patients with stage II colorectal cancer following curative-intent surgical treatment.
Read MoreIt’s time to stop hospitals from turning drug discounts into cash cows
Designed to help hospitals and clinics serving low-income and uninsured patients, the 340B program has evolved into a markup scheme that enriches large hospital systems.
Read MoreAlabama Department of Insurance creates new pharmacy benefit manager compliance division
The Alabama Department of Insurance (DOI) is creating a new pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) compliance division, DOI commissioner Mark Fowler announced on Wednesday.
Read MoreHospital lobby 'confident' 340B pilot program 'will ultimately fail'
Just days and weeks away from key deadlines, the hospital industry’s leading trade organization is still calling for the administration to scrap a one-year pilot of drugmakers’ preferred approach to statutory drug discounts.
Read MoreDOJ probing UnitedHealth’s Optum Rx, alongside Medicare practices
The U.S. Justice Department’s criminal division is digging into UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s prescription management services as well as how it reimburses its own doctors under an ongoing probe into the firm’s operations, according to people familiar with the matter.
Read More