GAO: Coupons May Artificially Increase Part B Spending On Drugs

Drug companies aren't allowed to offer coupons to help Medicare beneficiaries with copays, but coupons increasingly are being used in the private sector, and that might be artificially driving up reimbursement for drugs in Medicare Part B, the Government Accountability Office reports. GAO recommends giving CMS the power to determine how much the coupons would lower reimbursement, but it stops short of recommending that Medicare lower reimbursement by factoring coupon discounts into the formula that determines provider reimbursement for administering...