HHS forced to choose migrants over medicines
From the article:
Echoing the pharma industry, Verma stressed that the state's request violated current law — the first time she's publicly cited a legal defense.
“[I]f you want to go forward with negotiating with drug companies directly, we actually said we are supportive of that and you can move forward with that," Verma said. "[But] the way the law works, they are not able to also get the rebates that are automatically required in the Medicaid program by law.”
Medicaid told the state it could create a drug formulary limiting what medicines can be prescribed only if it gives up the mandatory discounts drugmakers have to give states that agree to cover all medicines. POLITICO's Sarah Karlin-Smith has more on Verma's comments.
… Not all health law experts agree with Verma's interpretation. Professors Nick Bagley and Rachel Sachs recently argued in Health Affairs that CMS has selectively waived parts of the Medicaid statute in the past.
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fda health care finance health law policy medicare-medicaid pharmaceuticals rachel sachs