No Need for Trump to Eliminate Rebates

In July, the Trump administration announced its intention to eliminate rebates for Medicare Part D drugs to lower prescription drug costs and reduce potential for unintended incentives created by rebate protection under the Anti-Kickback Statute. However, eliminating Medicare Part D rebates is not essential for lowering the costs that patients pay for medications. There is a more sensible approach that would not require radically altering the existing model: setting patient co-insurance levels based on the average sales price (ASP)– the price after rebates and discounts are considered. Doing so would lower co-insurance costs while providing greater price transparency. Read more here.

(Source: Andrew Parece and Matthew Majewski, Stat, September 4, 2020)