Representatives from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services gave important updates to the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs work groups that met in person last week on key issues, including new translations now available for the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan notice, progress on adoption of e-prior authorization standards, a recap of the first six weeks of the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, and the BALANCE program to increase access to GLP-1 drugs in Medicare and Medicaid including a short-term bridge program expected to start in July 2026 with a central claims processor.
NCPA staff and a handful of members were in attendance. Pharmacies will be happy to hear that among the planned improvements for the Medicare Transaction Facilitator is a search function for the internal control numbers (ICN) assigned to manufacturer refund claims to protect patient privacy. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more about these topics.
