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) released the calendar year 2026 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) proposed rule, which was published in the Federal Register on July 16, 2025. The comment period ends on September...more
Our Drug Pricing and Market Access team tracks recent developments in healthcare reform, the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, the 340B Program, Medicare, and state law....more
Some commentators are expecting that further details regarding the so-called most favored nation (MFN) pricing policy will be released in the coming days, while other sources indicate that no further information beyond a...more
On November 26, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released the contract year 2026 proposed rule for the Medicare Advantage (“MA”) program, Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Program (“Part D”),...more
On August 20, 2024, OIG issued Advisory Opinion No. 24-07 in which it responded to a request for an advisory opinion regarding a nonprofit grant-making organization’s (Requestor) proposal to fund a patient assistance program...more
A bipartisan group of attorneys general from 31 states and the District of Columbia filed an amicus brief in support of a petition for certiorari by Oklahoma’s insurance commissioner to review a decision by the U.S....more
The price of prescription drugs has brought scrutiny to the entire drug supply chain. Congress and other policymakers continue to seek opportunities to lower costs for patients and the federal government. Pharmacy benefit...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit issued a sweeping decision that (1) maintains long-standing federal protections for employer and union-sponsored health plans to design their health benefit plans, including...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit recently held in Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) v. Mulready that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and Medicare Part D preempted several...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued initial guidance on how the agency expects the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program (the “Negotiation Program”) to operate. The Negotiation Program was...more
Despite a busy 2022, drug pricing remains a hot topic at the federal and state levels, with a number of recent developments and trends worth monitoring heading into 2023. In the past year, the FTC increasingly focused on the...more
2022 Medicaid Drug Rebate Program Summit Concludes: The annual Medicaid Drug Rebate Program Summit took place Oct. 12-14 in Chicago. Latham partner Christopher H. Schott spoke at two sessions: the panel “Ask the Attorneys:...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 U.S. House of Representatives is expected today to pass legislation passed by the U.S. Senate that will significantly alter the landscape for pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement under the Medicare program for certain...more
This morning, the U.S. House passed drug pricing legislation as part of the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) (specifically the Rules Committee version available here and the manager’s amendments available here). In prelude to...more
On November 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) finalized a rule to take effect in 2022, which eliminates the safe harbor under the federal anti-kickback statute for manufacturer rebates to Medicare...more
On February 5, 2020, CMS issued a proposed rule advancing multiple updates and changes to Medicare Advantage (MA) and Medicare prescription drug benefit (Part D) programs (Proposed Rule). Unlike in past years, CMS will not...more
[co-authors: Sean Feely, Senior Public Policy Specialist and Julie E. Nolan, Senior Policy Advisor] • On September 19, Speaker Pelosi released a drug pricing plan that includes proposals for Medicare direct price...more
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report on July 1, 2019, finding that Medicare Part D contracts between Medicare Prescription Drug Plan sponsors and drug...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
The District of Columbia District Court has again deferred its decision regarding whether to approve the merger between CVS Health and Aetna, a $69 billion transaction that was first announced back in December 2017. ...more
• The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced a new Medicare Part D demonstration to address the potential implementation of a recent proposed rule that would exclude from anti-kickback safe harbor...more
The federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) prohibits the knowing and willful solicitation, receipt, offer or payment of any remuneration, directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind, in return for or to...more
On February 6, 2019, the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (the “OIG”) published in the Federal Register a proposed rule (the “Proposed Rule”) that, if made final in its...more
On January 31, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) issued a proposed rule (“Proposed Rule”) that would restrict safe harbor protection under the federal Anti-Kickback...more