PhRMA’s Medicare Demos Would Pair Voluntary Price Discounts With Reduced Cost Sharing

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America is floating proposals to lower prescription drug costs in Medicare Part B and Part D through voluntary demonstration projects in which manufacturer discounts would help lower beneficiary cost sharing.

The proposals could serve as an alternative to the so-called “most favored nation” executive order the President has threatened to sign, which is expected to direct the advance of a regulation that relies on international reference pricing to significantly lower Medicare Part B spending on certain high-cost drugs. The regulation would set up a mandatory demonstration project called the International Pricing Index