Inflation Rebates Would Cost Manufacturers Millions, Studies Say

Drug manufacturers would be on the hook to pay the federal government hundreds of millions of dollars in rebates per year should the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) — and a key inflation-based penalty provision within it — become the law of the land. The breadth of the penalties, however, hinges on various factors, including the current runaway rate of inflation.

While the BBBA, passed by the House in November 2021, remains stalled, lawmakers have expressed a renewed sense of interest in picking up the pieces following President Joe Biden’s March 1 State of the Union address.

A previous holdout to the Democrats’ wide-ranging spending plan, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) recently issued an informal counteroffer to Biden’s speech, calling for prescription drug spending to remain central to any legislation that moves ahead.