CMS Postpones Best Drug Price Requirements Until 2022
May 27, 2021
A new drug price ruling required a drug’s best listed price to include any discounts. These changes were slated to go into effect on January 1st, 2021. However, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have postponed the date until mid-2022. This change comes as healthcare stakeholders report needing additional time to update their systems and to consider changes in healthcare quality and access.
“The Trump administration approved the new rule in December, hoping that it would make it easier for private insurers, state Medicaid programs and prescription drug manufacturers to create value-based payment arrangements tied to clinical outcomes. But hospitals, insurers, drug companies, medical schools and Medicaid directors argued last summer that CMS rushed the rule. They warned they needed more time to understand it since the agency didn’t look into how it would affect states and the healthcare industry or say how it would ensure the rule would work as intended.” Read more here.
(Source: Michael Brady, Modern Healthcare, 5/26/21)