Cathy Kelly

Cathy Kelly

Senior Writer

Washington, DC

Cathy has covered US regulation and reimbursement policy for the biopharma industry since 2004, starting with the establishment of the Medicare Part D program. Since then, she has written extensively about developments in all major sectors of the US insurance market (Medicare, Medicaid and commercial plans). She has covered key legislation affecting biopharma, including the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act which created Part D, health care reform under President Obama, and the Inflation Reduction Act which establishes a government price negotiation program in Medicare for the first time and redesigns of the Part D benefit. She has closely followed the increasing influence of pharmacy benefit managers and their use of formulary negotiations and rebates to control pricing. Cathy also has covered developments in health technology assessments, including the growing influence of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, and has monitored industry progress on novel drug contracting that reflects value-based pricing. She has worked as a health care reporter and editor while raising three daughters. Cathy lives outside DC in Bethesda, MD, with her husband Sean.

Latest from Cathy Kelly

Calquence, Janumet, Tradjenta Medicare 2027 Negotiated Prices Below First Cycle Comparators

CMS may have decided some of the IPAY 2027 drugs did not measure up to their IPAY 2026 therapeutic alternatives, but negotiation parameters also may have played a role in the lower prices negotiated in the latest round compared to the first cycle.

Trump’s Semaglutide Most Favored Nation Price Will ‘Supersede’ Medicare MFP

The Medicare negotiated price is slightly higher than the Most Favored Nation price recently announced by the Trump Administration.

Real Savings: Medicare-Negotiated Discounts On Cancer Drugs Range From 40%-60%

Because they are not heavily rebated already, the discounts on four cancer treatments and a trio of other specialty drugs may benefit patients and the government more than others in the IPAY 2027 class.

Biologics To Dominate 2028 Medicare Negotiation Cycle As Eligibility Expands To Part B

The inclusion of Medicare Part B drugs in the program for the first time will sweep in several biologics, even though heavy hitters Keytruda and Opdivo will not be among them.

Medicare Part D Plan ‘Instability’ May Prompt Demands For More Drug Price Concessions

Is the $2,000 out-of-pocket spending limit in Part D too ‘aggressive’? Manufacturers could be targeted when policymakers seek a solution for the disarray in the standalone plan market caused in part by the cap.

Second-Most Favored Nation? CMS Clarifies Medicaid Price Benchmark In GENEROUS Model

Demonstration could bring unprecedented transparency into international net prices, at least to CMS.