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Bipartisan Health Bills Pick Up Steam, but Contentious Debt Ceiling Negotiations Continue

As lawmakers race to put together a debt ceiling deal, Republicans and Democrats are working on healthcare legislation that they believe could have bipartisan support. According to this InsideHealthPolicy article, the potential legislation could include limited site-neutral pay expansions and duals reform.

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Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program and Drug Pricing Reform: Eligible Drugs to Know and Understanding What’s Next

On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), which contains prescription drug pricing reform provisions. The three main Medicare prescription drug pricing reform provisions included are as follows:

  • Drug Price Negotiations: Allows the federal government to negotiate for a select number of vaccines and/or drugs
  • Inflation-Based Rebates: Mandates that manufacturers pay a rebate to the federal government when the list prices of Part B or Part D drugs grow at a faster rate than the inflation rate
  • Part D Benefit Redesign: Implements an out-of-pocket maximum for beneficiaries at $2,000 and redistributes liability among manufacturers, health plans, patients and the federal government across phases of the Part D benefit starting in 2024.

Leveraging data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS’s) Medicare Drug Spending Dashboard and FDA databases, McDermott+Consulting has identified the potential list of drugs subject to negotiations.

This information is particularly valuable for pharmaceutical companies, health plans, patients, pharmacies and other stakeholders as they evaluate and consider the implications of this legislation. In less than one year, on September 1, 2023, the Health and Humans Services (HHS) Secretary will publish the first list of selected drugs subject to drug price negotiations. Understanding the statutorily mandated negotiations framework, timeline and potential drugs that may be included is critical to support stakeholders’ efforts to obtain optimal outcomes.

This report describes the drug price negotiation program, an implementation timeline for drug price reforms from the IRA and information on which drugs are likely to be first subject to price negotiation.

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Labor Under Biden: What Employers Need to Know

Before the 2020 election, then-US Presidential candidate Joe Biden vowed to be the “strongest labor president you have ever had.” Now having been in office for almost a year, how has President Biden changed the country’s labor environment, and what can employers expect out of his administration? In these slides, McDermott Partners Ron Holland and Kristin E. Michaels and McDermott Associate Philip Shecter provide insight into US labor activity and how the latest labor developments affect both union and nonunion employers.

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Federal Vaccine Mandates Are Back in Play (For Now)

The courts continue to move the vaccine mandate goalposts on employers as dozens of legal challenges work their way through the courts. The latest developments are major game changers for employers. As of today, the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) vaccine-or-test rule is enforceable nationwide, and the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Interim Final Rule (IFR) mandating vaccination, subject to exemptions, is enforceable in 25 states.

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