Manatt’s Ian Spatz, a senior advisor with Manatt Health, spoke with FierceHealthcare on the Trump administration’s withdrawal of its plan to eliminate legal protections for drug rebates in Medicare Part D.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said that the move would have led to higher Part D premiums for seniors, a risk that made many officials wary, according to FierceHealthcare.
Spatz said that the upcoming 2020 presidential election, and possible pushback on increased premiums for seniors, likely outweighed Secretary Azar’s initial push to get the rebate rule passed.
“I think that the sort of political problems with the proposal just weighed it down too much and outweighed the strong personal commitment to it by Secretary Azar,” Spatz said.
Read the article here.