Editorial Staff

Picking Patients’ Pockets: Exposing Insurance Schemes Targeting Orphan Diseases

/in , , /by Editorial Staff
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute’s senior Health Care Fellows Dr. Bill Smith and Dr. Robert Popovian about their white paper “Out-of-Pocket Pirates: Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) and the Confiscation of Out-of-Pocket Assistance Programs.” This episode explores what consumers and regulators can do to ensure those with rare diseases are not left without assistance.

Follow on Apple Follow on Spotify Follow on Stitcher

Guests:

Dr. William S. Smith is Pioneer’s Visiting Fellow in the Life Sciences. Dr. Smith has 25 years of experience in government and in corporate roles. His career includes senior staff positions for the Republican House leadership on Capitol Hill, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, and the Massachusetts Governor’s office where he served under Governors Weld and Cellucci. He spent ten years at Pfizer Inc as Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy where he was responsible for Pfizer’s corporate strategies for the U.S. policy environment. He later served as a consultant to major pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies. Dr. Smith earned his PhD in political science with distinction at The Catholic University of America.

Dr. Robert Popovian is Senior Visiting Health Policy Fellow at Pioneer Institute. Dr. Popovian is the Founder of the strategic consulting firm Conquest Advisors. He previously served as Vice President, U.S. Government Relations at Pfizer. One of the country’s foremost experts on every significant facet of biopharmaceuticals and the healthcare industry, he is also a recognized authority on health economics, policy, government relations, medical affairs, and strategic planning.

WATCH:

Recent Episodes

Landlord’s Foreseeable Duty: Who Is Liable When Crime Lands on the Doorstep?

Joe Selvaggi talks with retired Federal Judge Frank Bailey, president of Pioneer Public Interest Law Center, about the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's decision in Hill-Junious v. UTP Realty, LLC, regarding the limits of liability for a landlord when a murder occurs near her tenant’s location, and the challenges facing small entrepreneurs in high-crime communities.

Trump’s Trial’s Tribulations: Legal Merits of Four Federal Felony Fraud Indictments

Joe Selvaggi talks with legal scholar and George Mason University professor Ilya Somin about the legal merits of the federal indictments against former President Donald Trump and what is likely to come next in the legal proceedings against him and other defendants in the cases involving the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.

Black Box Budget: Late, Loaded, and Lacking Transparency

Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute’s Senior Fellow in Economic Opportunity Eileen McAnneny about the features and flaws of the recently passed 2024 Massachusetts state budget now waiting for Governor Healey’s approval.

Sabotaging Strategic Success: How Price Controls Could Imperil U.S. Pharma Industry

Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute’s Director of Life Sciences Initiative Dr. Bill Smith about the policies that drove biopharmaceutical company from Europe to the U.S., and how proposed, similar price controls in President Biden’s Fair Prices Act could distort incentives away from innovation and threaten the success of a thriving and vital U.S. industry.