On November 1, 2017, CMS announced that it is in fact cutting Medicare Part B reimbursement for 340B drugs to the tune of $1.6 billion. To be accurate, what CMS announced is its intent to finalize proposed rule changes to the...more
11/3/2017
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Covered Entities ,
Drug Pricing ,
Final Rules ,
HCPCS ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Part B ,
Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) ,
Physician Medicare Reimbursements ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Section 340B
Earlier this month the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s subcommittee on Government Oversight and Investigations held its second hearing on the 340B Drug Discount Program. The hearing followed on the heels of a July 18th...more
11/2/2017
/ CEOs ,
Charitable PAPs ,
Covered Entities ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Drug Pricing ,
FQHC ,
GAO ,
GPOs ,
HRSA ,
Medicare ,
OIG ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Physician Medicare Reimbursements ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Section 340B
On August 17, 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had reached a $465 million false claims settlement with Mylan, the manufacturer of EpiPen, over the company’s alleged underpayment of Medicaid Drug...more
8/23/2017
/ Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Generic Drugs ,
Medicaid ,
Medical Devices ,
Mylan Pharmaceuticals ,
OIG ,
Prescription Drug Coverage ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Qui Tam ,
Rebates ,
Section 340B ,
Settlement
On July 18, 2017, just days after CMS went public with its proposal to reduce Medicare Part B reimbursement to certain 340B covered entities, Congress held its first hearing on 340B Program Oversight since March 2015. A...more
7/26/2017
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Drug Pricing ,
GAO ,
HRSA ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare Part B ,
OIG ,
Omnibus Guidance ,
Orphan Drugs ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Section 340B
In March, I posted about the Uncertain Future of the 340B Drug Discount Program. When opining about What Could Happen Next I speculated about possible changes to government reimbursement for 340B drugs “so that government...more
7/17/2017
/ Budget Cuts ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Covered Entities ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Drug Pricing ,
Executive Orders ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Part B ,
MedPAC ,
OIG ,
Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) ,
Physician Medicare Reimbursements ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Section 340B
The latest installment in the ongoing saga over EpiPen Medicaid Drug Rebates came on May 31, 2017, when Senator Charles Grassley issued a press release stating that between 2006-2016 taxpayers may have overpaid for EpiPen by...more
6/7/2017
/ Brand Name Prescription Drugs ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Generic Drugs ,
Medicaid ,
Medical Devices ,
Mylan Pharmaceuticals ,
OIG ,
Prescription Drug Coverage ,
Rebates
On May 17, 2017 the American Bar Association convened its 27th National Institute on Health Care Fraud. I have attended many of the past annual meetings, and always enjoy the presentations and the opportunity to network with...more
5/29/2017
/ American Bar Association (ABA) ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement ,
Exemptions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Kickbacks ,
Materiality ,
Medicare Part D ,
OIG ,
Opioid ,
Universal Health Services Inc v United States ex rel Escobar ,
Yates Memorandum
A bipartisan congressional effort is underway to convince CMS to reverse its biosimilar reimbursement policy implemented under the Obama administration. We discussed the current reimbursement policy in a March 2016 blog post...more
5/23/2017
/ Biologics ,
Biosimilars ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
HCPCS ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Innovation ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Part B ,
Obama Administration ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Reimbursements ,
Rollbacks ,
Trump Administration
Last week, the California Assembly Committee on Business and Professions voted in favor of Assembly Bill 315. AB 315 seeks to amend the California Business and Professions Code: (a) to require PBMs to obtain licensure from...more
4/26/2017
/ Business & Professions Code ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Incentives ,
Licensing Rules ,
Pending Legislation ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacies ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Rebates ,
State and Local Government ,
Transparency
In July 2015, we posted about the N.Y. Attorney General’s False Claims Act (FCA) settlements with Trinity HomeCare and its related entities, and how the case provided insight into the future of FCA enforcement. We identified...more
4/17/2017
/ Attorney General ,
Business Associates ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
Kickbacks ,
Patient Privacy Rights ,
Pharmacies ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Qui Tam ,
Settlement
Here we are in March 2017 and no one is sure where things stand with the 340B Drug Discount Program. HRSA and its oversight of the 340B program are subject to the recent Executive Orders restricting issuance of federal...more
3/16/2017
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Drug Pricing ,
Executive Orders ,
HRSA ,
Medicaid ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Repeal ,
Section 340B ,
Trump Administration
Earlier this week, the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services (“OIG”) posted its fiscal year (“FY”) 2016 data about Medicaid Fraud Control Units (“MFCUs”) across the country....more
For several years now, the public outcry over the issue of drug pricing and reimbursement has increased in frequency and fervor. At least one government agency wants you to know that it has been listening and wants to help...more
Back in early October, we were all transfixed by the announced Mylan settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) over Mylan’s alleged underpayments of Medicaid Drug Rebates for the EpiPen. Although Mylan indicated...more
More than two years since issuing the proposed rule, the HHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued the long-awaited and highly anticipated final rule (the Final Rule) that provides amendments to the Anti-Kickback...more
12/12/2016
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Co-payments ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Final Rules ,
Generic Drugs ,
Hospitals ,
Inducements ,
OIG ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Safe Harbors
Before we all turn our full attention to the nominations of Representative Tom Price as Secretary of Health and Human Services, and policy consultant Seema Verma to lead CMS, we need to remember that there are still...more
Our eyebrows were raised by Mylan’s October 7, 2016 announcement that it had reached a $465 million “settlement” with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and “other government agencies” over its Medicaid Drug Rebate...more
Thus far, 2016 has been a relatively quiet year for the 340B program at the federal level. Neither Congress nor the Health Resource and Service Administration (HRSA) has shown an appetite to take on the issues plaguing the...more
Last week, Mintz Levin and ML Strategies released a joint Alert analyzing key provisions of the Covered Outpatient Drug final rule (“Final AMP Rule”) and their impact on manufacturers, pharmacy benefit managers (“PBMs”), and...more
In late January, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released the much anticipated Covered Outpatient Drugs Final Rule with Comment (the “AMP Final Rule”). The rule creates the regulatory definition for...more
With 2015 coming to a close, we wanted to provide a recap of the major updates impacting the pharmacy industry and what pharmaceutical manufacturers, pharmacy benefit managers (“PBMs”), and pharmacies might expect in 2016. ...more
12/9/2015
/ AstraZeneca ,
Biosimilars ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Drug Pricing ,
FDA Approval ,
HRSA ,
Kickbacks ,
Kmart ,
Novartis ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacies ,
Section 340B ,
Value-Based Purchasing
Last week, under the cover of the impending Thanksgiving Holiday, OIG lobbed another grenade at the 340B Drug Discount Program. The means of delivery was an OIG Report on Medicare Part B payments for 340B drugs which...more
Our recent post on HRSA’s Omnibus Proposed Guidance for the 340B Drug Discount Program (Proposed Guidance) noted that since the DC District Court had yet to rule on the validity of HRSA’s “interpretive” 340B orphan drug rule,...more
10/21/2015
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Comment Period ,
Congressional Committees ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Covered Entities ,
Drug Pricing ,
HRSA ,
Interpretive Rule ,
Omnibus Guidance ,
Orphan Drugs ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacies ,
PHRMA ,
Section 340B
We have now had more than 30 days to digest HRSA’s proposed 340B Drug Pricing Program Omnibus Guidance (“Proposed Guidance”), intended to clarify expectations and provide guidance on key issues in the 340B Program. There are...more
10/8/2015
/ Comment Period ,
Covered Entities ,
Drug Pricing ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Hospitals ,
HRSA ,
Interpretive Rule ,
MCOs ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Omnibus Guidance ,
Patients ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacies ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Section 340B ,
State Medicaid Programs
As a veteran of the AWP litigation era, I am struck by the recent state efforts to legislate transparency into pharmaceutical pricing. Multiple states have introduced bills that would require pharmaceutical manufacturers to...more
8/26/2015
/ Attorney General ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Drug Pricing ,
Fraud ,
Medicaid ,
Pending Legislation ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacies ,
Transparency ,
Whistleblowers ,
Wholesale