With Drug Rebates on the Chopping Block, Stakeholders Should Prepare for Change | Deloitte US has been saved
By George Van Antwerp, managing director, Deloitte Consulting LLP
Early this year, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed eliminating safe-harbor protections for the rebates drug manufacturers pay to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), Medicare Part D plans, and Medicaid managed care organizations. At the same time, HHS proposed two new safe-harbor protections for some point-of-sale (POS) price reductions on prescription drugs and certain PBM service fees.
The proposed rules, which are slated to go into effect on January 1, 2020, would not affect commercial health plans…at least not yet. On February 1, HHS Secretary Alex Azar urged Congress to pass its proposal “immediately” and to draft legislation that would extend it to the commercial drug market. In March, Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) introduced the Drug Price Transparency Act (S. 657), which would extend the rebate prohibition to the commercial market.
With the rule prohibiting rebates in Part D still under review, and more than 25,000 comments submitted, Part D plans have to create their bids for CY2020, which are due in June. On April 4th, the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it would let Part D plans test a new payment model that would reduce the risk of large gains or losses through risk corridors under a two-year demonstration. Additionally, CMS provided clarity that Part D plans should submit bids “in a form and manner that is consistent with the Anti-Kickback Statute law and regulations in effect as of the bid submission deadline, including, for the purposes of bid development, the treatment of manufacturer rebates per our existing rules and guidance related to Direct and Indirect Remuneration.” At the same time, during an April 9 hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, executives representing six large PBMs warned that eliminating rebates could lead to higher drug prices for seniors and argued that changing the business model by January 1, 2020, was not realistic.
While we have been tracking this issue closely over the past several months, it continues to evolve. In my October blog, The future of drug rebates: Are they to be or not to be?, I explained how pharmaceutical manufacturers use rebates when establishing list prices for their products. In November, my colleague Joe Coppola outlined some of the alternative models that could emerge if safe-harbor protections are eliminated. This third installment of our drug-rebate blog series examines how the proposed changes could affect various stakeholders.
At the heart of the debate is whether drug prices are artificially high because of the rebate system, or whether this system helps to bring drug prices down. Critics argue that rebates are to blame for high drug prices, while PBMs and health plans contend that rebates are an important tool in keeping rising drug costs in check. Others note that the rebate system existed and worked when plan designs were based on flat-dollar copayments. However, now that health plans often tie patient out-of-pocket costs (e.g., deductibles, coinsurance) to list prices for drugs, this might no longer be a practical solution.
Here’s what we know…
Regardless of how rebate reform rolls out, most stakeholders will be affected. At this point, there are many questions and few detailed answers. If HHS’s proposed rule is finalized and survives any legal challenges that arise, we can make several reasonable assumptions:
Here’s what we don’t know…
A big question surrounding HHS’s proposal is whether it will help achieve the administration’s goal of reducing list prices for prescription drugs…and at what cost? Here are a few questions we can’t answer until we have more information:
Stakeholders will likely have to prepare for change in different ways.
Here is how we think various stakeholders could be affected by the elimination of the drug-rebate model:
Regardless of the shape the final rule takes, and the timing of the implementation, we are already seeing various stakeholders distancing themselves from drug rebates. In a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney last fall, former House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.), and former Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) noted that possible changes to the existing rebate model “could ripple across the health care sector, altering a major sector of the US economy that Americans depend upon for their health and well-being.” Depending on where you sit, this is either worrisome, long overdue, or the natural evolution of the market.