STAT+: Just how vulnerable is Medicare drug negotiation to legal challenges?
A new report suggests there are at least some parts of the law setting up Medicare drug price negotiation that can't be challenged.
WASHINGTON — Drugmakers have already hinted at suing Medicare over its new efforts to negotiate prescription drug prices. A new report by nonpartisan congressional researchers suggests there are at least some parts of the law that can’t be challenged — but they caution it would ultimately be up to the courts to decide.
When they laid out the new rules for Medicare drug price negotiation, Democrats tried to get the program up and running before a future Republican administration could dismantle it. To speed things up, the law directs government officials to forgo the usual public rulemaking that allows for industry feedback, and it restricts the courts from reviewing aspects of that process, including the drugs chosen for negotiation and the maximum price that Medicare will pay for them.
Those protections are probably why Medicare officials felt comfortable designing a negotiation process that the drug industry views as tipped against them, according to Christopher Schott, a partner at Latham & Watkins.
What's Your Reaction?
