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Pharmaceuticals

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Emergency Medical Services (EMS)

NCSL works in cooperation with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to bring you up to date, real-time information about enacted EMS legislation in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

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Health Policy Snapshot: Protecting Consumers from Surprise Medical Billing

Many states have enacted legislation protecting consumers from surprise health care bills over the last few years.

PHARMACEUTICALS

Pharmaceuticals

All Documents

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Overview

Almost 50 percent of Americans take prescription drugs regularly, improving their health or even saving lives. State and federal legislative actions have led to major policy shifts, affecting drug costs, use of brands or generics and patient access and safety. Read reports on Medicaid use of preferred drug lists, new rebates from manufacturers, public and private patient assistance programs, medication adherence and patient education, “sunshine” laws, tighter regulation of safety violations at compounding pharmacies, combating illegal misuse of prescription products and future trends that affect a new generation of biological medications. Some results are dramatic: total U.S. drug spending was rising at a rate of 10 percent annually a decade ago, but recently the annual increase had slowed to less than 2 percent, then surged back 8.5 percent in 2015.