Medicare Drug Plans Must Pass Savings to Consumers Under Rule

Medicare beneficiaries would pay lower out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs under a proposed rule by the Biden administration that would require Medicare prescription drug plans to pass on savings to consumers.

More Medicare “Part D” drug plans are entering into “price concession” arrangements in which they pay reduced costs to some pharmacies for certain dispensed drugs. But these arrangements aren’t publicly disclosed, and the drug plans don’t pass the savings along to Medicare beneficiaries who purchase the drugs.

In late 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services sought comment on a policy to require Part D plans to “apply ...