JAN 28, 2021
Most Favored Nation Drug Model Still Paused Until Biden Administration Makes a Move
As of today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Most Favored Nation Drug Model continues to be on hold until the Biden administration determines how to move forward with any new regulations.
If the administration decides to proceed with the new payment model, which the Trump administration announced in December, it must provide 60-day notice and republish it in a proposed form for comment in the federal register. The previous administration skirted the public rulemaking process and tried to implement the new rule Jan. 1.
As the Academy reported last week, the government expressed that it did not intend to appeal the preliminary injunctions that are in place. However, should the government decide to move forward with appeals, litigation currently paused in district courts across the country would resume, most likely delaying the model further.
The Academy continues to advocate for the Most Favored Nation model to be withdrawn. Billed as a way to make U.S. drug prices more competitive with international rates, the plan, we believe, could prevent patients from getting timely access to sight-saving treatments. We stated that concern and the lack of stakeholder input in our letter (PDF) to CMS’ acting administrator this week.
Although CMS’ public commenting period closed Jan. 26, the Academy encourages you to continue telling lawmakers how you will be negatively affected if this rule is implemented.
Contact Academy Grassroots Coordinator Dash Delan at ddelan@aao.org for assistance with these efforts.
The Academy will provide more information once the administration releases more details.