On Oct. 2, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released its final guidance on part two of the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. NCPA has issued a member summary on the guidance, including a “good, bad, and ugly” overview.
NCPA provided comments to the proposed guidance in July 2024. The negotiated prices of the first 10 drugs in the program are set to go into effect in 2026. Details of the specific drugs and their maximum fair prices can be found here.
CMS will announce the selection of up to 15 more drugs covered by Part D for the second cycle of negotiations with participating drug companies by Feb. 1, 2025. Those negotiations with participating drug companies will occur during that calendar year and any negotiated prices for this second set of drugs will be effective starting Jan. 1, 2027.
NCPA analyzed 5,200 community pharmacies to determine how the program would affect them, finding that the average pharmacy will have to float over $27,000 every month waiting to be made whole for the MFP refunds from manufacturers. The impact on the cash flow of the roughly 20,000 independent pharmacies in the country will be a collective half a billion dollars every month. NCPA continues to be vocal about our concerns, and has published a survey on the impact of this program on our members.
