First proposed in early 2019, the Trump administration has recently revived a flawed, pharmaceutical-industry favored plan effectively banning rebates used to lower the final cost of a drug from the list price offered by drug manufacturers. The administration’s own actuaries found that the plan could raise Medicare Part D premiums by 19 percent in the first year, and 25 percent in the decade thereafter. Further, a 2019 analysis from Avalere Health found that eliminating prescription drug rebates would “have the consequence of increasing beneficiary premiums and reducing benefit offerings by Medicare Advantage-Prescription Drug (MA-PD) plans.”
Better Medicare Alliance led the successful charge to shelve the rebate rule in 2019 and will do so once more. Read more for our latest resources on the need to stop the flawed rebate rule and pursue real solutions to lower prescription drug costs that don’t carry unintended consequences for vulnerable seniors.
- Press Release: Better Medicare Alliance decries executive order reviving flawed rebate rule (July 24, 2020)
- Letter: Better Medicare Alliance writes to HHS Secretary Alex Azar urging against restarting rebate rule efforts (July 21, 2020)
- Report: Impact of Proposed Rule to Eliminate Prescription Drug Rebates on Medicare Advantage Beneficiaries (April 2019)
- Fact Sheet: The HHS Rule to Eliminate Manufacturer Rebates in Part D Will Harm Medicare Advantage (April 2019)
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