NCPA staff met with members of the Domestic Policy Council of the Executive Office of the President to discuss ongoing concerns with the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. NCPA stressed that independent pharmacies cannot and should not, nor was it the intent of Congress for pharmacy, to pre-fund or "float" the MDPN program. NCPA also stated that without CMS requiring that Part D plans and PBMs to pay pharmacies no less than the maximum fair price (MFP) plus a commensurate dispensing fee when providing these drugs to patients, mandating that PBMs cannot assess DIR fees on the MFP drugs, and requiring timely and fair reimbursement of manufacturer refunds, pharmacies will not be able to afford to dispense these drugs and the MDPN program will fail. The program takes effect Jan. 1, 2026. For NCPA's talking points on the MDPN, click here.
Additionally, NCPA supported Congressional vehicles that would ban spread pricing in all Medicaid managed care programs (Protecting Pharmacies in Medicaid Act (S. 927)) and ensure reasonable and relevant pharmacy reimbursement in Medicare Part D (Patients Before Middlemen (PBM) Act (S. 882)).
