CMS's Average Sales Price (ASP) list is out for the second quarter of 2010 (running from April 1 through June 30). Subscribers can now download an 11-page document on the drug price changes prepared by Part B News.

You'll find it in our Hot Documents folder labeled "ASP_chart_Q210." The document details all price changes from the first to second quater.

CMS contends the prices remain stable. Here's a snapshot of what our analysis has found:

• Prices for 248 drugs will decrease from the amounts paid in the first quarter of 2010;
• Prices for 67 drugs will not change;
• Prices for 270 drugs will increase; and,

Read more on new ASP Part B drugs list

CMS is moving to implement provisions in the the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Here's a brief summary of action the agency has taken so far. Look for more news from CMS on the bill over the next few weeks.

The rumors we sniffed out last week are true: President Obama wants Donald Berwick to run CMS. Berwick, 63, is currently a professor in Harvard's Department of Health Policy and Management. He's also president and CEO of the Institute for Health Care Improvement, a non-profit policy group that aims to boost health care quality while lowering costs.

The Obama administration has been in place for more than a year now, but they still hasn't named an administrator to run CMS. After signing health care reform into law, it seems reasonable to assume that having a political appointee run the agency must be a priority at the White House. This week, we outlined several changes in the health care reform bill to the Medicare.

I just got an email from a trusty CMS source: Expect a 10-day freeze on payment for all your Medicare claims delivered after April 1. Congress had several proposals to tack on another 30-day delay, but action on these measures stalled.