Eliminating pharmaceutical rebates: a wild goose chase?

Reducing patient healthcare costs is imperative, write Matthew Majewski (pictured above, on left) and Andrew Parece, vice presidents of Charles River Associates, in a Special Report.

In July, the Trump administration restated its intention to remove rebates for Medicare Part D drugs as one of several new Executive Orders aimed at lowering prescription drug costs. One of the administration's goals in revisiting the rebate elimination plan is to reduce the potential for unintended incentives created by the protection of rebates under the safe-harbor provisions of the Anti-Kickback Statute.

As the 2020 election approaches, one of the key areas of focus for both parties is how to make healthcare costs more affordable for patients, particularly the cost of prescription drugs. Over time, patient costs for prescription drugs have been increasing, in part because such costs have been shifting from fixed patient co-payments that vary by formulary tier to percentage-based co-insurance payments.