President Donald Trump will unveil a plan to limit prices on some costly drugs, though it will not go as far as some Democrats want, according to senior administration officials.
The plan, set to be released Friday, will require Medicare Part D plans share a portion of discounts they receive from drug manufacturers with patients, the officials said. It will include ways to allow the government to better negotiate, they said, though it will stop short of allowing Medicare to directly work with manufacturers on prices.
“We’re not calling for Medicare negotiation in a way that Democrats have called for,” one official said. “We clearly want to make important changes that will dramatically improve the way negotiation takes place inside the Medicare program.”
Trump has repeatedly chastised drug companies, even accusing them of “getting away with murder.” He’s slated to deliver a speech outlining his proposals Friday.
The plan will require Medicare Part D plans to share a portion of discounts they receive from drug manufacturers with patients, the officials said. This could be a relief to pharmacy benefit managers, as some reports said there was a push to pass through all of these rebates.
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb last week suggested the federal government re-examine whether the rebates should be re-classified under anti-kickback laws, which has weighed on PBM stocks.
Rebates have become a battleground in the fight over who’s to blame for high drug prices. Drugmakers accuse pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, of profiting off higher list prices because they can negotiate bigger discounts. PBMs say it’s manufacturers’ fault for setting the high prices in the first place.
The plan will also seek to limit price increases that are greater than the rate of inflation for drugs covered under Medicare Part B, which covers treatments that patients need to be administered by a physician. It includes some of the most expensive drugs like cancer treatments. Medicare reimburses the list price of the drug plus 6 percent.
The officials declined to outline exactly how the administration would address what has been called “foreign freeloading,” or how patients in other countries typically pay less for drugs than Americans, while U.S. companies invest in research and drug development.
