Sweeping Rule Raises Onus on MAOs, Seeks Pharmacy DIR Reform

  • Jan 20, 2022

    CMS on Jan. 6 released a 360-page proposed rule largely aimed at increasing Medicare Advantage plan accountability and strengthening beneficiary protections, particularly for patients who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. As the first major MA and Part D rulemaking under the Biden administration, the proposed rule would reinstate several policies that were unwound by the Trump administration, such as the return of detailed reporting medical loss ratio (MLR) requirements and provider network reviews for new and expanding MA plans.

    The proposed rule, Medicare Program; Contract Year 2023 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Programs (87 Fed. Reg. 1842, Jan. 12, 2022), also revisits a Trump-era plan to reform pharmacy direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) — a topic that has long been a thorn in the side of community pharmacies. Specifically, CMS proposed to include all pharmacy price concessions — removing an exception for those that cannot be reasonably determined — at the point of sale in the definition of “negotiated price,” which is the primary basis for determining a beneficiary’s cost of obtaining a Part D covered drug.

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  • Lauren Flynn Kelly

    Lauren has been covering health business issues since the early 2000s and specializes in in-depth reporting on Medicare Advantage, managed Medicaid and Medicare Part D. She also possesses a deep understanding of the complex world of pharmacy benefit management, having written AIS Health’s Radar on Drug Benefits from 2004 to 2005 and again from 2011 to 2016. In addition to her role as managing editor of Radar on Medicare Advantage, she oversees AIS Health’s publications and manages the health editorial staff. She graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in English.

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