How quickly do health plans update coverage when FDA revises specialty drug labels?
We analyzed ~1,300 coverage decisions from 2019-2022. ~30% of policies already aligned w/ label changes. Plans took a median 30 weeks to update other policies, were faster when labels narrowed
tinyurl.com/2vzn95k3
Studies about specialty drug spending typically focus on cost and utilization trends, which can obscure how the increasing number of specialty drug approvals contributes to these costs.
Read our new study exploring trends in FDA specialty drug approvals to learn more: tinyurl.com/yx464kda
Don't miss an opportunity to work with our renowned faculty! Applications for our 2026 CEA Registry Summer Fellowship close March 5th.
What is the Fellowship program like? 2025 Fellowship alumna Taylor (Hao-Hsin) Huang shares her experience at www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzEZ...
CEVR's 2025 "By the Numbers" highlights our impressive output for last year:
20.02.2026 20:59 — 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
CEVR’s Tara Lavelle, PhD, joined the Nemours Well Beyond Medicine Podcast to discuss her research showing that rapid genomic screening for critically ill infants can save money versus standard testing.
Listen here tinyurl.com/4ds6ry8h
How much do drug prices and rebates shape health plan coverage decisions?
We analyzed ~6,700 coverage decisions across 161 specialty drugs to see how net prices, rebates, and market characteristics relate to coverage restrictions by large US commercial health plans.
Read at: tinyurl.com/2f3wm34t
How often do health plans use clinical outcome assessments (#COA) to determine access to specialty drugs?
We reviewed 14,000 specialty drug coverage policies from large US commercial health plans to examine how COAs are used in coverage decisions.
Read at: tinyurl.com/yjae4pp7
How is the #HEOR function evolving inside pharmaceutical companies and what does that mean for evidence generation, decision-making, and careers in the field?
Read Part 2 of our report from Tufts-CEVR’s HEOR Leaders survey to find out: tinyurl.com/2skh73vu
How are pharma #HEOR teams informing industry responses to developments like the #IRA, state #PDABs, and rules for sharing economic evidence with payers?
Read CEVR’s report exploring the results of our new national survey of industry HEOR leaders to find out: tinyurl.com/ywjsntyy
Grad students: get a head start on summer by applying for our virtual CEA Registry fellowship. Learn more and apply today: cevr.tuftsmedicalcenter.org/news/2026-re...
#internships #fellowship #research #healthecon
@pattysynnott.bsky.social
⏰ One week left to submit nominations for Tufts-CEVR's 2025 CEA Paper of the Year Award. Don't miss the chance to have your work recognized!
08.01.2026 20:03 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Read Dr. Lavelle’s vaccine spillover research here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
07.01.2026 19:09 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
The Tufts-CEVR CEA Registry’s search function can save weeks of effort on lit reviews. Hear how Tara Lavelle used it for a study on vaccine spillover effects.
Access is free for #ISPOR members who are students or who are academic/gov’t researchers in LMICs.
More at cear.tuftsmedicalcenter.org
CEVR’s Tara Lavelle: Tufts-CEVR’s CEA Registry is a powerful, tool that can inform evidence-based health benefit design, new research proposals, and judgments on the value of health care interventions.
More at cear.tuftsmedicalcenter.org
Conversations about drug pricing/value benefit from launch price transparency. New CEVR research finds that, from 2022-2024, pharma companies disclosed 1/3 of drug launch prices proactively and another 1/3 reactively, suggesting room for improvement.
More at tinyurl.com/dsfjft4k
Do US health plans clearly explain how patients can start and stay on neuromuscular disease (NMD) therapies? New CEVR research suggests that they often do not.
Read more about payer transparency/restrictiveness across several NMDs, including #DMD, #SMA, #ALS, and more.
tinyurl.com/mr2cxc52
What is the outlook for US payer coverage of specialty drugs in 2026? CEVR’s James Chambers will share insights from our SPEC database during a “can’t miss” webinar next week.
When: December 18, 12-12:30 pm ET
Register at tinyurl.com/56959f62
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (#CMS) recently released the maximum fair prices (#MFP) for the 15 #IPAY 2027 drugs. How closely do they align with value-based prices?
New CEVR research found wide variation, which sends muddled signals to drugmakers about value.
tinyurl.com/3jsuybc7
Excited to announce 1st paper in new Health Affairs Scholar Series #HAS @Health_Affairs by @TuftsCEVR. For almost 20 years, CEVR has been leader on issues pertaining to value, cost-effectiveness, and risk tradeoffs in health care decisions. Watch for more! academic.oup.com/healthaffair...
09.12.2025 20:01 — 👍 3 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0
Some drugmakers are rolling out “pharm-to-table” programs to sell drugs directly to patients at lower costs, but how much will these programs to improve access and price transparency?
Read CEVR’s commentary on the promises and pitfalls of these programs.
tinyurl.com/mrv8dczp
Did you publish a #CEA in 2025? Applications are now open for the 8th annual Tufts-CEVR CEA Paper of the Year Award.
Est. application time: <5 mins
Award: $500
Due: January 15th: forms.gle/hiPo3nYSE8rV...
#HEOR #healthecon #HTA
Only 25% of cost-effectiveness analyses published from 2013-23 (n=7,800) omit societal costs (productivity, caregiving, travel, etc.), despite consensus guidelines recommending their inclusion.
Read at tinyurl.com/3htu3zn9
The Inflation Reduction Act (#IRA) allows #Medicare to defer negotiation for drugs with expected biosimilar competition within 2 years of selection, but this provision may unintentionally reduce long-term savings according to new research from CEVR.
More at: tinyurl.com/nptjvxzb
Rapid genome sequencing performed early in a hospitalization can save ~$160k for critically ill infants with suspected genetic conditions- but most US insurers do not cover it.
Read more about this new Tufts Medical Center research: tinyurl.com/yc7mmxs7
Come see CEVR's faculty at ISPOR Europe 2025 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Details of our speaking engagements can be found at tinyurl.com/4em5ak2t
#ISPOREurope
Join CEVR on Nov. 5 from 2:30-3:30 pm ET for a health policy seminar from Boshen Jiao, PhD, MPH. Dr. Jiao will discuss the inclusion of productivity, informal caregiving time, and future unrelated medical costs in economic evaluations.
More at: tinyurl.com/4ru3pmd8
CEAs of SMA treatments frequently omit the effects of bereavement on caregivers, potentially undervaluing these interventions. Our new survey of bereaved parents better quantifies their experience of grief to inform future CEAs.
Read more at: tinyurl.com/2mcs6taa
The death of a child with SMA is a life-changing experience for parents, impacting their outlook on life, health, relationships, employment. New qualitative research explores the impacts of grief and strategies that help bereaved parents manage the loss of their child.
Read: tinyurl.com/mw2s2ezw
Going to AMCP 2025? Come see presentations by @mollytoba.bsky.social, Daniel Enright, and Angela Lin of CEVR's SPEC Team!
#AMCPNexus
US commercial payers vary in how they cover cell and gene therapies, according to a new study of 541 coverage policies by Tufts-CEVR’s SPEC team. 52% of policies had restrictions beyond FDA label, often limiting access to patient subgroups or requiring step therapy.
Read at: tinyurl.com/5dwhv726
