The Trump administration is ending efforts to start a generic drug discount program for Medicare enrollees.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services officials announced this week that it will no longer try to add a $2 drug list to the Medicare Part D prescription drug plan program.
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, an arm of CMS, had hoped to work with drug manufacturers and drug plans to make about 150 generic drugs available through the list for a $2 copay.
CMS eliminated the Medicare $2 drug list project along with several other efforts to update Medicare, such as two primary care update projects.
What it means: Clients with Medicare coverage who thought the discount program would cut their health care costs may be out of luck.
The history: In 2006, Walmart set off a flurry of generic drug price competition by establishing a program that provided dozens of popular generic drugs for $4 for a monthly supply. The discount store chain now sells about 100 popular drugs through the program for about $4 to $50 for a monthly supply.
In 2022, former President Joe Biden called in a 2022 executive order for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the parent of CMS, to come up with ideas for making prescription drugs more affordable.
In 2023, HHS suggested that it could try coming up with its own $2 generic drug list.
The Trump administration rescinded the Biden-era executive order in January, and that move eliminated White House support for the $2 drug project.
Officials have not given a reason for ending the $2 drug list project or estimated how much money ending the project might save.
The impact: CMS officials estimated that the $2 drug list could have helped about 32 million of the 40 million people with Medicare drug coverage.
Many Medicare Part D plans offer key generic drugs for a low copay, but only about 20% of the people with Medicare drug coverage in 2023 had generic drug benefits that could beat the $2 drug list, officials said.
Credit: CMS
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