Podcast — Drug Pricing: How Are Payers Responding to the IRA?
Podcast: IP(DC): Drug Prices, Political Pressures & Patents
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updated its guidance on the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022’s (P.L. 117-169) (IRA) Medicare Prescription Payment Plan (M3P) with its release of the Final Part Two Guidance on...more
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in conjunction with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), is striving to alleviate the financial strain of medication costs on the elderly and disabled...more
The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) marked a significant milestone in Congress’s ongoing efforts to address escalating health care costs. While the IRA aims to rein in government spending on Medicare and...more
On February 15, 2024, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan Draft Part Two Guidance (Part Two Guidance) as part of the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) efforts to...more
On November 15, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule titled Contract Year 2025 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage Program, Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit...more
Before the Thanksgiving holiday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued two proposed regs that would make changes to certain health insurance plan policies starting in 2025: one impacting Medicare Advantage...more
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was signed into law in August 2022 with the goal of curbing inflation by, among other things, lowering prescription drug prices. Notable prescription drug provisions of the IRA include the...more
Although most of the recent focus around the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”) by the press and industry stakeholders has been on the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, the IRA has several other...more
Patient assistance programs (PAPs) that seek to subsidize patient co-payments for drugs covered by Medicare may involve compliance challenges. A recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector...more
States remain at the forefront of legislative efforts on a range of issues relating to drug pricing, such as increasing price transparency, capping out-of-pocket costs for insulin, and limiting certain PBM practices. These...more
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will make arguably the most significant changes to U.S. prescription drug pricing regulations ever, but certainly since the creation of the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program in 1990. For the first...more
On August 7, 2022, after extensive deliberation, Senate Democrats passed their long-awaited reconciliation bill, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the Reconciliation Bill). In addition to climate and tax provisions, the...more
Impact on Pharmacies, Part D Payors, Pharmacy Benefit Managers, and Drug Manufacturers - On April 29, 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its final rule, Medicare Advantage and Part D Final...more
On April 29, 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”), issued the final rule on Contract Year 2023 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Programs...more
On April 29, 2022, CMS issued its final rule for Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D plans with updates including reduced out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs and improved consumer protections. CMS published the final...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its Final Rule on Contract Year 2023 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Programs (Final Rule) late last...more
Last month, the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services (OIG) issued a report finding that Medicare Part D, and Medicare beneficiaries, could reduce spending with increased use of...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published the proposed Contract Year 2023 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Programs (the Proposed Rule) on...more
Continuing our series analyzing the recently proposed Contract Year 2023 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Programs rules (Proposed Rule), this post focuses on a few...more
On January 6, 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued the proposed rule on Contract Year 2023 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Programs...more
On September 23, the HHS OIG published Advisory Opinion No. 20-05, advising that OIG found “highly suspect” a manufacturer’s proposal to create a copay subsidy program to help certain financially eligible Medicare...more
Although delayed as a result of the COVID-19 public health emergency, there are persistent and ongoing efforts to reform the Medicare Part D benefit. Since its June 2016 Report to Congress, the Medicare Payment Advisory...more
During the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s (MedPAC’s) January 16 public session, MedPAC staff continued their drumbeat for reforming the Part D benefit following recommendations previously made in their June 2016...more
High out-of-pocket costs can be a significant barrier to access for Part D enrollees, especially for non-low-income subsidy (LIS) enrollees with a condition that requires an expensive specialty drug for treatment. The 2019...more
Earlier this month, CMS issued a final rule aimed at lowering drug prices and reducing out-of-pocket expenses in Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D. This rule is the Administration’s latest effort to address prescription...more