USC Schaeffer

In our latest Q&A, USC Price Research Assistant Professor and USC Schaeffer Scholar Erin L. Duffy details the importance of financial literacy while outlining best practices for those who receive unaffordable medical bills.

She calls on policymakers to make paying for healthcare more accessible.

Read more here: https://uscprice.page/4qSJgeK

Medicare enrollment opened this week, with millions of beneficiaries facing a familiar headache: Too many plan options, not enough reliable info. In a new STAT op-ed, USC Schaeffer scholars suggest several ways the shopping experience could be made easier so beneficiaries can choose the right plan.

Stop overloading older adults with Medicare plan choices Older adults face too many Medicare plan options, and it’s overwhelming them.

Pfizer's deal with the White House grabbed headlines, but its actual impact is uncertain. USC Schaeffer's Dana Goldman discusses with the National Academy of Medicine how the agreement might affect U.S. and European consumers, the challenges of patchwork drug pricing interventions, and the need for a more rational pricing system.

Read the interview here: https://nam.edu/news-and-insights/trump-pfizer-drug-prices-deal/

Despite Relaxed Prescribing Rules, Opioid Addiction Treatment Still Hard to Find at Pharmacies - September 2, 2025 - USC Schaeffer Even as policymakers have made it much easier to prescribe buprenorphine, a new Schaeffer Center study finds most pharmacies still aren't carrying the treatment. - September 2, 2025

While Medicare’s new out-of-pocket cap is designed to protect beneficiaries from high drug costs, USC Schaeffer research finds most beneficiaries are likely paying more at the pharmacy counter. Co-Director Erin Trish explains why this trend threatens health and household budgets in an interview with the Financial Management Association (HFMA) .

“Higher out-of-pocket costs can translate to lower adherence and worse health outcomes,” Prof. Trish said. “Ultimately, it can also raise spending overall as patients end up in the hospital or needing other care that often could have been avoided.”

IRA drives ‘substantial’ out-of-pocket cost increases The Medicare drug negotiation law has led to higher out-of-pocket costs for many Medicaid enrollees, according to recent research.

The Trump Administration's new drug pricing order provides an opportunity to bring some rational thinking to how the U.S. pays for drugs, write USC Schaeffer Scholars Darius Lakdawalla and Dana Goldman in STAT .

But rather than import foreign price controls, the U.S. should build a system that reflects how American patients value medicines.
USC Sol Price School of Public Policy USC Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Ensuring most-favored nation drug pricing doesn’t sicken us “Lowering drug prices to European benchmarks would ultimately reduce innovation and cost American consumers just over half a year of life expectancy.”

NIH is the all-star of biomedical research. Cutting NIH funding would put one of America's most strategic industries — biomedical innovation — at risk, write Schaeffer Scholars Dana Goldman and Bob Kocher.

Patients Win When NIH Swings for the Fences - May 1, 2025 - USC Schaeffer NIH is the all-star of biomedical research. Cutting NIH funding would put one of America's most strategic industries — biomedical innovation — at risk. - May 1, 2025

What if there was a way to save lives, reduce federal health spending, and outperform the S&P 500 — all by simply covering a new class of weight-loss drugs?

In their Washington Post op-ed, Dana Goldman and Alison Ward argue that and are missing a golden opportunity to invest in highly effective anti-obesity medications that could deliver a staggering 13% annual return to society.

Read the full piece to learn how that adds up in value: https://uscprice.page/4ilA10Z

USC Schaeffer

Schaeffer Scholars in a Washington Post op-ed argue that Medicare should revisit its decision not to broadly cover anti-obesity medications, considering the enormous value expanded access would generate for society. Expanded access to the medications would mean longer, healthier lives for Americans, with health benefits rippling throughout the economy.

If Medicare reconsiders the policy, it should tie coverage to savings from the drugs, write Alison Sexton Ward and Dana Goldman. "Given the earnings potential, the drugmakers would probably be eager to accept."

Opinion | A missed chance to make America healthier and richer Covering anti-obesity medications under Medicare and Medicaid holds enormous value for society.

Massive cuts could force many people off coverage, straining the healthcare system and potentially resulting in staff reductions and even hospital closures, according to Schaeffer Scholar Paul Ginsburg.

“Hospitals will lose these paying customers…particularly rural hospitals, which in many areas, are struggling financially," Ginsburg told Morning Brew. "This could lead to them closing, and that’s affecting a much broader population in those areas than those eligible for Medicaid.”

How Medicaid cuts could affect healthcare workers The House’s proposed budget would require massive cuts to the federal insurance program.

The future is already here. USC Schaeffer Scholars Bill Padula and David Armstrong are harnessing artificial intelligence to minimize risks to patients and improve outcomes.

"By marrying our humanity with the technology, we can effect positive change on ourselves and the planet," Armstrong says.

Read more about their work in Trojan Family Magazine.

First AId USC physicians are creating byte-size miracles through AI innovation.