Trump Administration Drops Plan to Curb Drug Rebates

The Trump administration announced that it has withdrawn a key element of its plan to curb drug prices, reports the Wall Street Journal . The White House said it will not move forward with a proposal to curtail industry rebates that drug companies give to intermediaries in Medicare, following a federal court injunction against a separate regulation that required drugmakers to put list prices in TV ads. White House policy aides clashed with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over the scope and timing of the rebate rule, with some Republican lawmakers and consumer advocacy groups concerned it would hike Medicare premiums. Further discrediting the plan was a forecast that the federal cost of the measure would be about $200 billion over 10 years. The current regime allows pharmacy-benefit managers to negotiate confidential rebates and discounts on many branded prescription drugs, which are not always passed along to customers at pharmacies.