The Trump administration’s proposal to eliminate rebates paid by pharmaceutical companies to PBMs in Medicare Part D and Medicaid managed care organizations is a significant step in a new direction, but there are a host of concerns about the push to shift savings to consumers’ pockets, according to a recent blog post in Health Affairs.
Proposed Thursday, Jan. 31, the new rule aims to “eliminate rebates from manufacturers to PBMs, and replace them with discounts provided to beneficiaries at the point of sale.”
The author of the blog post, Washington University’s Rachel Sachs, says one key concern is the administration’s uncertainty about how the industry will react.
“Primarily, this is due to ‘the range of strategic behavior changes stakeholders may make in response to this rule,'” she writes, quoting the proposal.
According to the post, the government will explore three potential impact areas: out-of-pocket costs, premiums and government spending.
To read the full blog post on Health Affairs, click here.
