Podcast — Drug Pricing: How Are Payers Responding to the IRA?
Podcast: IP(DC): Drug Prices, Political Pressures & Patents
On May 12, 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued draft guidance for initial price applicability year (IPAY) 2028 of the Drug Price Negotiation Program (DPNP) established by the Inflation Reduction...more
Heading into the new year, a Trump-Vance administration will control the White House and the Republicans will hold a narrow majority in both the House and Senate. This control trifecta is likely to impact both legislative and...more
Bipartisan efforts to lower prescription drug costs remains a core focus for the US Congress. Effective October 1, 2024, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced the follow-on cohort for its...more
As many have now heard, on Thursday, August 15, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the prices for the first 10 prescription drugs selected for negotiation with manufacturers (Selected Drugs)...more
On July 31, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published its mammoth proposed rule entitled “Medicare and Medicaid Programs: Calendar Year 2025 Payment Policies under the Physician Fee Schedule and Other...more
Over the last two months, there has been a steady influx of regulatory and legislative efforts regarding drug pricing and the pharmacy industry. To streamline your review, we summarize below a few noteworthy developments that...more
Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it would allow health plans under Medicare Part D (the Medicare prescription drug benefit) to cover Wegovy and other weight-loss medications if they...more
In November 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a final rule, “Medicare Program; Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System: Remedy for the 340B-Acquired Drug Payment Policy for Calendar...more
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) continues to take steps implementing the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). Newly revised guidance issued on December 14, 2023, makes notable changes and clarifications...more
This Week in Washington: House passes Lower Costs, More Transparency Act and SUPPORT Act Reauthorization; Senate HELP Committee reports SUPPORT Act Reauthorization and three other bills out of committee; ONC releases final...more
The ability to directly negotiate drug prices has been a policy goal for Democrats for many years and was recently accomplished through the Inflation Reduction Act’s (“IRA”) Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program (the...more
The Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”) was passed just over a year ago with a goal of lowering high drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries and reducing costs incurred by Medicare. A central piece to achieving the IRA’s goal of...more
August 31, 2023 – When it comes to prescription drug costs, policymakers have set their focus on the consumer: “Let’s lower drug prices for the consumer.” “Let’s give consumers more options in paying their out-of-pocket...more
On Tuesday, August 29, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the first ten prescription drugs selected for price negotiation with manufacturers (Selected Drugs) under the Inflation Reduction Act of...more
\On August 29, 2023, Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced the first ten drugs covered by Medicare Part D selected for negotiation under President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (“IRA”), which was signed into...more
On June 30, 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its much-anticipated final guidance (“Final Guidance”) for the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program (“Negotiation Program”) through the...more
On July 25, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) republished its Drug Price Negotiation Process Information Collection Request (Negotiation Process ICR). The Negotiation Process ICR, which was originally...more
In recent months, six different lawsuits have been filed challenging the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)’s Drug Price Negotiation Program (the “Program”), with a flurry of activity likely in the coming months before the...more
This month, pharmaceutical manufacturer, Merck & Co., Inc. (“Merck”), as well as four chambers of commerce, have filed suits against the federal government, arguing that the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program introduced...more
The American Conference Institute is hosting the 21st Annual Rx Drug Pricing Boot Camp in New York. With both federal and state law makers engaging in greater scrutiny of prescription drug pricing, now is the time when...more
On March 15, 2023, CMS released initial guidance detailing the requirements and parameters on key elements of the new Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program for 2026, which is the first year that negotiated prices will apply...more
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) establishes the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program (Negotiation Program), which permits the government to negotiate drug prices for certain high expenditure, single source...more
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-169) (the Act) contained an array of novel prescription drug provisions, which we described in our August 29, 2022, alert. On Wednesday, March 15, 2023, the Centers for...more
The Inflation Reduction Act (the “IRA”) requires drug manufacturers to pay rebates to Medicare when the prices of their Part B and Part D prescription drug increase faster than the rate of inflation. We recently discussed the...more
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), signed into law last August, seeks to overhaul the way Medicare buys and pays for prescription drugs. A regulatory undertaking of this scope is certain to generate a great deal of...more