On July 10, 2019, the Trump Administration announced that the rebate rule, proposed in January, will not be finalized due to predictions that it would raise premiums in Medicare, in addition to the estimated $177 billion that the rule would cost the federal government over the next ten years. The proposed rule would have adjusted the Anti-Kickback Statute’s safe harbor provisions to encourage Medicare Part D plans to pass through rebates from pharmaceutical manufacturers to beneficiaries at the point-of-sale. The rule was intended to ensure that patients are able to benefit from pharmaceutical rebates that are negotiated on their behalf by their insurance plan, instead of the plan retaining those rebates and using them to lower aggregate premiums across the plan. Aimed Alliance had supported the rule because it had the potential to reduce pharmaceutical prices and it could have increased access to medically necessary treatments, so we are disappointed to see that it has been abandoned.
Last Updated on May 14, 2020 by Aimed Alliance
