South-Carolina
What to know about January's annual drug price hikes
Drug companies often increase prices at the start of the new year, and 2024 seems to be no exception.There have been about 600 price hikes so far in January, according to the drug price nonprofit 46Brooklyn Research.
But the increases haven’t been as steep as they were in some previous years. In the 2010s, drug price hikes were typically much bigger — up to 10% on average
“Since 2016, the pedal to the metal has been kind of pulled back a little bit, where we typically see the weighted average impact of a price increase and the median price increase hovering at around 5%,” says 46Brooklyn’s CEO, Anthony Ciaccia.
That’s roughly what he’s seeing this year.
Ciaccia expects another couple hundred more drug price increases before the end of the month — and that will account for most brand name price hikes this year.
Net prices are different
Even if a drug’s sticker price is going up, that doesn’t mean the drugmaker is taking all that money home. That’s because there’s another kind of price to think about called a net price. That’s what the drugmaker takes home after rebates it has to pay back to third parties and other discounts.
And on the whole, those rebates have been going up, so the net prices have been going down for about six years now.
Richard Evans, a pharmaceutical industry veteran who runs SSR Health, a drug pricing data and analytics firm, says net prices went down a little faster in 2023 than in previous years.
“As of September 30 last year, the average discount in the marketplace was about 52%,” he said. That means drugmakers take home a lot less than list price. “Some manufacturers are getting about $0.48 on the dollar.”
Record decreases driven by penalties
For the first time, there were also huge list price decreases this January, according to 46Brooklyn. These were for insulins and inhalers, and they were 70% or 80% reductions.
Drugmaker GSK says it plans to cut Advair’s list price by up to 70%, for example. Advair is an inhaler for asthma and asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The cuts are so significant that when you look at the prices of drugs overall, they actually cancel out the increases. That’s if you’re doing weighted averages of price changes based on how much a drug is used, Ciaccia of 46Brooklyn says.
The big factor is legislation passed in 2021 under President Biden called the American Rescue Plan Act. It was mostly a COVID-era stimulus bill, but it also included a part that affects Medicaid.
Prior to that law, drugmakers had to pay penalties for increasing prices faster than inflation, but there was a cap on those penalties.The American Rescue Plan lifted the cap in 2024. Now, drugmakers would have to pay such huge penalties for raising prices faster than inflation that they’d owe the government more than the value of the drugs.
Put another way, they would make negative money for selling their products!
“The end result is drug manufacturers crushing the prices of many of these old products or pulling those products from the marketplace altogether to avoid having to pay the steep penalties to Medicaid programs,” Ciaccia says.
What it means for consumers
Usually what someone pays at the pharmacy counter is related to the list price– the ones the drug companies set rather than the net prices they ultimately take home.
That means that if a list price goes up, the copay will probably be more.
But a price cut doesn’t necessarily mean savings at the pharmacy counter. The copay could wind up being more because it causes the drug to move to a different tier of your insurer’s drug formulary — that’s the menu of drugs your insurance provides. This has a lot to do with the behind-the-scenes payments that happen between the drugmaker and your insurance’s middleman called a pharmacy benefit manager.
Copay changes will vary depending on the drug and your insurance plan.
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
All that separated Connor Doyal from the biggest win of his amateur golfing career was 5 feet of perfectly manicured green on Hole No. 18 at Naples National Golf Club. That plus a super-sized case of the yips.
“My hands were shaking uncontrollably,” said the 26-year-old mid-amateur from Charleston, South Carolina. “But I’ve had some moments like this before, and I think I’ve just learned to let it happen and not fight it. I knew it wasn’t going to be the best stroke of my life, but in the moment, I just had to trust myself to make the putt.”
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Just as he had for much of the third and final round of the 30th annual Terra Cotta Invitational, Doyal delivered, dropping in the putt to win the event by one stroke over 17-year-old junior golfer Dawson Lew of Toronto, Canada.
Connor Doyal, a 26-year-old mid-amateur golfer from Charleston, S.C., celebrates with the trophy after winning the 30th annual Terra Cotta Invitational on Saturday, April 18, 2026.
Doyal, who entered the day two shots behind co-leaders Giuseppe Puebla of Royal Palm Beach and University of Florida senior Parker Bell, shot 5-under 67 to finish 12-under, two shots off the low-scoring record for the 54-hole tournament.
“Honestly, I just hit the ball fantastic start to finish,” Doyal said. “I hit a ton of greens and then the putter started heating up. I woke up feeling good this morning, and I knew I had it in me.
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“Coming down the stretch, I had to battle. I’m just glad it’s over. I mean, the heart rate is still extremely high right now.”
Doyal had seven birdies in his final round, the best of which came on the par-4 No. 14. He used his six-iron to blast his second shot 220 yards to within inches of the cup, setting up a short putt that gave him a one-shot lead over Bell.
Doyal followed with a birdie on No. 15 to up his lead to two strokes, but made things interesting by shorting a putt on No. 17 for bogey.
Playing in a group just ahead of Doyel, Lew missed a 35-foot try for birdie on the par-5 No. 18 a smidge left to finish at 11-under after a final round 68.
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Clinging to that one-shot lead on No. 18, an admittedly amped-up Doyal nearly overshot the green on his third shot from about 80 yards out, the ball settling on the back fringe. He followed with a deft chip, setting up his tournament-winning putt.
“It was a little bit nervy there, but I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Doyal said. “I’m always going to be able to look back at that up and down on 18 and be like I have what it takes when the pressure is on.”
Widely regarded as one of the best amateur events for junior golfers in the country, the Terra Cotta’s field included nearly the entirety of the top 25 in the Rolex American Junior Golf rankings. That included Luke Colton of Frisco, Texas, who was gunning for an unprecedented third consecutive Terra Cotta championship. The 18-year-old Vanderbilt commit came up short in his quest, finishing 3-under and in a tie for 21st place.
“I started off pretty bad, just kind of had a weird first day,” said Colton, who opened with a 2-over 74. “Nothing was going my way. But I was pretty happy with the way I ended it.”
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Colton said the Terra Cotta is one of his favorite events of the season.
“You’ve got a great field and obviously an amazing course,” he said. “I think that’s why everybody wants to come and play at this tournament.”
Another top junior was a late and unreported entry to the Terra Cotta. Charlie Woods, son of golfing great Tiger Woods, got off to a rough start with an opening round 79, but shot a 3-under 69 in the final round to finish in a tie for 42nd place with a 3-over 219.
Among the five Naples-area competitors, former Gulf Coast High School standout and current University of Florida golfer Noah Kent had the best showing. The 20-year-old finished with a 2-over 218 for the tournament, placing him in a tie for 34th. The other local entrants were Spencer Ives (220), Brian Bassett (222), Jack Ryan Donovan (224), and Kaden Latrielle (229).
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Contact Sports Reporter Dan DeLuca at ddeluca@usatodayco.com. For the best sports coverage in Southwest Florida, follow @newspresssports and @ndnprepzone on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Connor Doyal wins Florida amateur event, Charlie Woods ties for 42nd
Columbia, Mo. — The South Carolina softball team (25-21, 4-13) dropped the second game of its series at Missouri (24-23, 7-10) 5-0 Saturday night (Apr. 18).
Kai Byars led the Gamecocks with a pair of doubles on the night. It was her second multi-hit game of the season and her first game with multiple extra base hits.
The Tigers scored a run in the third inning without the aid of a hit. They would extend the lead and add four more in the fourth.
Carolina’s best opportunity for a run came in third. Byars doubled to lead off the inning and Shae Anderson followed with a bunt single. A double play on a potential sacrifice fly ended the rally.
Emma Friedel (8-4) took the loss, allowing one run on no hits in 3 1-3 innings. She struck out six and walked three.
The rubber game of the series will be tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET.
Audi Crooks on being in the transfer portal
USAT’s Sam Cardona-Norberg catches up with college basketball star Audi Crooks, who is still looking for her next team.
Sports Seriously
Jordan Lee entered the transfer portal after a breakout season at Texas and the junior guard isn’t going too far. She’s staying in the Southeastern Conference.
Lee announced on Instagram Friday that she’s transferring to South Carolina to play for Dawn Staley after spending the first two years of her collegiate career at Texas under Vic Schaefer. Lee captioned her Instagram post, which featured a video montage of her visit to Columbia, South Carolina, “Feeling cocky.”
Lee was one of four players from Texas to enter the transfer portal after the Longhorns’ second consecutive trip to the Final Four ended in a devastating loss to UCLA. She was named to the All-Region team in the Fort Worth 3 bracket in this year’s NCAA Tournament following her Sweet 16 and Elite Eight performance, where she recorded 22 points, six assists, three rebounds and four steals while also providing strong defense.
After being limited to five starts her freshman year, Lee slid into the starting lineup last season and started a career-high 38 games. She also averaged career highs in points (13.2), assists (2.5), rebounds (2.5), steals (1.5), field-goal percentage (42%) and free-throw percentage (75%), while shooting 34% from 3-point range.
Texas’ Aaliyah Crump, Justice Carlton and Aaliyah Moore also entered the transfer portal. On Friday, Crump announced she’s transferring to Duke, citing her connection with head coach Kara Lawson.
“For me, choosing Duke University goes far beyond one sentence. The moment I connected with Kara Lawson and her coaching staff, I knew I was exactly where I belonged,” said Crump, who averaged 7.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game her freshman season at Texas.
Crump continued: “Their dedication and vision for the program is truly special, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be a part of it. The connection Coach Lawson and I have built is one of a kind, and I fully trust in her plan for the success of this program. I can’t wait to be coached by genuine people who support my growth not only as a basketball player, but as a person as well.”
Three-time All-American Madison Booker and junior starting forward Breya Cunningham are expected to return to Texas.
Contributing: Mitchell Northam
Reach USA TODAY National Women’s Sports Reporter Cydney Henderson at chenderson@gannett.com and follow her on X at @CydHenderson.
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