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Rx News | November 27, 2013
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Employee Benefits Association of Northern Illinois
Rockford, Illinois
Dec. 4, 2013

 

National CooperativeRx is a not-for-profit coalition founded and owned by plan sponsors to achieve higher value prescription benefits through volume purchasing, clinical solutions, actionable data and unparalleled customer service. For your sales and marketing needs, please contact us at 866-679-9479, extension 223

Coalition News

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope you have a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving.  Please note that National CooperativeRx will be closed Thursday, November 28, and Friday, November 29. Because of the holiday, we're sending out this newsletter a few days early.

Also, we would like you to know that the cooperative has donated to food pantries nationwide in honor of our members.  It is due to our members that we're able to exist, and we wanted to show our appreciation by paying it forward.

Happy holidays from all of us here at the cooperative!
Your National CooperativeRx Team

 

 
News You Can Use
HealthDay.  The deadline for buying insurance through the federal health insurance exchange is being pushed from Dec. 15 to Dec. 23, so consumers wishing to sign up for coverage beginning Jan. 1, 2014 have a few extra days to do so.  (Pallarito, 11/22)   Full Story

CNN.  A team of doctors has created "Tumor Paint," a product designed to illuminate cancer cells in the body and help surgeons distinguish them from healthy tissue.  Tumor Paint is 500 times more sensitive than an MRI and works on a variety of cancers.  To read more about the amazing work this team is doing, click into the article.  (Wilson, 11/15)    Full Story

Industry News
Fox News.  The contraceptive drug Plan B might not work for women who weigh more than 176 pounds.  The manufacturer of the European version of the drug (which includes the same ingredients) is listing a warning on their products after research from the University of Edinburgh revealed that the emergency contraceptive pills may fail in women with higher body mass indexes.  (Alvarez, 11/25)   Full Story

Time.  Diabetes patients will now be able to get the drug Avandia from their pharmacists rather than special registries.  The FDA is reducing the warnings and restrictions after research has shown that the drug doesn't increase the risk of heart attacks.  (Sifferlin, 11/25)   Full Story

Health Policy Matters

Kaiser Health News. The exchange board for California's state-run health care program (Covered California) has unanimously decided not to extend canceled policies. The families featured in this article were initially concerned over their canceled plans, but have found that they'll benefit by switching to the state-run program.  Although some are stating that their premiums will rise, that will more than pay for itself with the benefits they'll be receiving under the new plan.  (O'Neill, 11/26)  Full Story

  


The Wall Street Journal.  President Barack Obama has signed legislation aimed at increasing the availability of epinephrine in schools, saying the law will help people like his daughter, Malia, who suffers from a peanut allergy. The School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Law provides a financial incentive instead of requiring that schools stockpile EpiPens.  (Solomon, 11/13)    Full Story 

Additionally, the EpiPen4Schools program was created to allow qualified schools to obtain EpiPen Auto-Injectors at no-cost. (EpiPen4Schools Program Link)