Shifting Medicare Part B drugs to Part D saves nothing, CBO says

A Congressional Budget Office analysis of the Trump administration’s FY19 budget proposal concludes that authorizing the HHS secretary to shift drugs from Medicare Part B to D would not produce any budget savings. Part B, which reimburses for drugs administered under a physician’s supervision, pays the average sales price (ASP) plus a 6% administration fee for drugs, while Part D relies on private plans to negotiate drug prices. HHS Secretary Alex Azar has expressed confidence that the policy would produce substantial savings for taxpayers (see BioCentury, May 18).

CBO estimated a $43.4 billion increase in spending over a decade if Congress enacts the administration’s proposal to require Medicare Part D plans to return a substantial portion of rebates to beneficiaries at the point of sale. It also calculated that an administration proposal to eliminate of cost-sharing on generic drugs for low-income Medicare Part D beneficiaries has a price tag of $18.7 billion over a decade...