WASHINGTON -- The Biden administration issued initial guidance yesterday on how it plans to implement the Medicare drug rebate program, which will affect doctors who administer drugs under Medicare Part B.
The program, passed in August 2022 as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, requires manufacturers who raise their drugs' prices faster than the rate of inflation to pay rebates to the federal government. The rebate rule, which applies to drugs administered to beneficiaries under either the Medicare Part B or Medicare Part D program, requires the companies to pay the rebates directly to the Medicare trust fund.
Medicare beneficiaries whose prescription drugs are subject to a rebate "will also benefit through lower cost-sharing" starting in April when the program begins to kick in, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) told reporters during a phone call Thursday. "The inflation rebate program will make prescription drugs more affordable for millions of people and strengthen Medicare's sustainability for future generations."
If the inflation Reduction Act had been in place from July 2021 to July 2022, 1,200 prescription drugs would have been subject to the rebates according to an HHS report, Meena Seshamani, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Medicare at CMS, said during the call. "Today's initial guidance is an important step in our work to lower out-of-pocket drug costs."
The guidance was released only a few days...
This is a paid press release. Contact the press release distributor directly with any inquiries. NEW YORK, September 23, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Special Committee of the Board of Directors (the ...