Employers Point to Higher Costs After Medicare Drug Negotiations

Employers that sponsor health plans are concerned Medicare’s new drug price negotiations will leave them paying higher prices.

The Medicare drug price negotiations that are starting under the Inflation Reduction Act could mean higher prices for self-insured employer health plans that pay their employees’ claims, said Margaret Rehayem, vice president of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions.

“The good thing is that they are starting to look at regulation of pricing, which I think employers are looking for,” Rehayem said in a recent interview. However, any price reductions that result “will end up being paid for by the employer ...