Leave Pfizer Copay Ruling as Is, Biden’s HHS Tells Supreme Court

The US Supreme Court should deny Pfizer Inc.'s request for reconsideration of a ruling that blocks the company from subsidizing an expensive heart drug for middle-income Medicare beneficiaries, the HHS said Wednesday.

The case hinges on whether drug companies can use charity programs to increase their sales on high-cost medications. The Department of Justice has been cracking down on drugmaker subsidies, arguing they run counter to Congress’s intent to control Medicare costs via copays.

Patient assistance programs require “guardrails,” the HHS said in a Wednesday filing opposing Pfizer’s Supreme Court petition. If a company could subsidize payments for its own ...