Legislation redirecting manufacturer rebates on prescription drugs to the point of sale could face an uphill battle following report’s description of the way rebates lower costs in Medicare Part D.

Annual large employer health benefits survey for 2020 and beyond finds support for government price negotiation and payment through a national fund. Plans to expand point-of-sale rebates and coupon accumulator programs also reported.

Eight inpatient prescription drugs are deemed eligible for supplemental payments in 2020, a big increase from years past, based on a review of US Medicare's new technology add-on payment approvals for prescription drugs since 2011. 

Product developers and researchers applaud the changes, including dropping "coverage with evidence development" approach.

Innovative purchasing model is not designed to solve the problem of high drug costs, experts point out during a recent discussion at the Brookings Institution.

US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services concludes structural changes to existing payment systems to accommodate the high cost of Novartis’ Kymriah and Gilead’s Yescarta are still “premature.”