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A new Medicaid rule being proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) could discourage generic drug use and should be amended to reflect actual acquisition costs for retailers that fill prescriptions with generic drugs, a pharmacist group said.
The HHS’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) is focusing on ways the federal government can reduce the amount it spends for prescription drugs under Medicaid, including greater use of generics, a high-ranking OIG official says.
Healthcare spending will continue to grow more quickly than the economy over the next decade as more Americans join government-provided healthcare programs, according to a report from economists at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Government healthcare programs must require more price transparency and better reporting to stop pharmaceutical companies from overcharging them for medications, according to experts and activists testifying at a House committee hearing.
Medicare payments for inhalation drugs will be assessed differently to ensure pharmacies are making compounded products strictly for medical needs and not to turn a large profit, according to the official in charge of Medicare.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) must strengthen its guidance regarding an exception to Medicaid price-reporting requirements to prevent drug companies’ abuse of that provision, key lawmakers say.
A key committee is recommending that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) soften a controversial proposal to require clinical trials it covers to enroll representatives of the populations Medicare serves.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is using a proposed rule to test the legal waters for its plan to collect and share prescription drug plan data to base Medicare reimbursements on product comparisons, sources say.
The Democrats’ plan to give the federal government the authority to negotiate for lower Medicare prices has taken another step forward as the House passed H.R.4 by a vote of 255–170.
Just over a year after implementation of the Medicare Part D Drug Benefit, members of Congress are already suggesting changes to the program, the main one being giving the federal government authority to negotiate drug prices with manufacturers. This proposal was a campaign issue during Democrats’ successful effort to take control of Congress and is already one of the hottest items on Capitol Hill. The proposal sailed through the House and now faces an uncertain future in the Senate, as well as a threatened presidential veto. Adding to the changes to Medicare, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is using a proposed rule to test the legality of collecting and sharing prescription drug plan data to base Medicare reimbursements on product comparisons. The CMS also needs a stronger policy to curb a Medicaid pricing ‘loophole,’ according to key senators, who say drug companies are taking advantage of the program. Government healthcare plans are also vulnerable to fraud because few government programs know the actual prices they pay for specific drugs, an academic says. These issues will not go away because of the rise in healthcare spending, which a CMS report predicted will double by 2016. This issue of The Food & Drug Letter looks at these and other developments with Medicare and Medicaid.