Drug Costs

The Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169) did not include any drug pricing provisions directly affecting Medicaid.  But as I have previously written for the Commonwealth Fund, Medicare drug pricing reforms can interact with the highly effective Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, under which drug manufacturers must pay sizable rebates to state Medicaid programs that significantly lower […]

The Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169), signed into law on August 16, 2022, includes historic Medicare drug pricing provisions such as a requirement for Medicare to directly negotiate prices with drug manufacturers for certain high-cost drugs and a requirement that drug manufacturers pay rebates to Medicare if their prices rise faster than inflation. Unfortunately, the […]

On March 23, 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released new technical guidance to drug manufacturers and states related to the highly effective Medicaid Drug Rebate Program (MDRP).  The guidance is related to a rule finalized late in the Trump Administration that, among other provisions, allowed manufacturers to report a range of […]

Congress and the Biden Administration are currently pursuing substantial drug pricing reforms as part of the reconciliation legislation expected to move this fall.  While the focus is primarily on Medicare, Medicaid should not be overlooked. In an ongoing series of posts for the Commonwealth Fund’s To the Point blog, I examine some key Medicaid drug […]