Pharma Companies Unappeased by Medicare Price Negotiation Revamp

The Medicare agency’s adjustments to its drug price negotiation program are looking unlikely to fend off industry legal challenges aimed at toppling it.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released its highly anticipated plan for setting prescription drugs prices June 30 after sifting through 7,500 comments. The Inflation Reduction Act gave Medicare, for the first time, the authority to negotiate the prices of drugs it spends the most on.

The March version of the guidance would have required drug companies to destroy all Medicare data they received during the negotiation period, but the final guidance removes that requirement.

The ...