Groups Concerned Over CMS Biosimilar Payment Rule

In recent comments to the CMS, diverse groups said the proposed rule on Medicare reimbursement for biosimilars would discourage innovation, erect barriers to developing biosimilars and create safety issues due to the inability to differentiate between biosimilars and reference (brand) products.

The groups commenting included the biologics industry, chain drug stores, patients and health insurers.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a proposed rule (CMS-1631-P) in July that assigns all biosimilars of a single reference product one Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) code and would reimburse biosimilars with the same HCPCS code based on the weighted average ...