Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CMS: Mylan Overcharged Medicaid By Millions Despite Warnings From Feds
The Wall Street Journal: Lawmakers Accuse Mylan Of Overcharging Government For EpiPen
The federal government says that Mylan NV has overcharged the federal-state Medicaid program by millions of dollars over five years for its emergency auto-injector product called the EpiPen. In a letter Wednesday, Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), said Mylan wrongly classified the emergency epinephrine product as a generic, when it should have been classified as a brand-name product. In doing so, Mr. Slavitt wrote, Mylan paid a smaller rebate of 13%, or about $163 million, when it should have been paying a rebate of 23.1% or more. (Burton, 10/5)
Stat: Mylan Overcharged Medicaid For EpiPen For Years, Despite Warnings
Mylan Pharmaceuticals overcharged Medicaid for its EpiPen device for years, even though the company had been told it should have provided bigger rebates, a federal agency said on Wednesday. From 2011 to 2015, Medicaid paid $797 million on EpiPen, after rebates. But the federal and state health care program for the poor should have spent less because Mylan Pharmaceuticals did not pay the appropriate rebates, according to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Silverman, 10/5)
Reuters: U.S. Government Health Plans Spent Over $1 Billion On EpiPens Over Five Years
U.S. government health plans spent more than $1 billion on Mylan NV's EpiPen emergency allergic reaction treatment between 2011 and 2015, according to figures released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Wednesday. (Berkrot, 10/5)
Bloomberg: Mylan In ‘Hot Seat’ As U.S. Says It Overcharged For EpiPen
Mylan NV’s escalating dispute with the federal government over how much it owes in discounts for its EpiPen allergy injector shines a light on complex Medicaid pricing rules, with potentially costly consequences for the drugmaker. In a letter to a U.S. senator Wednesday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, said Mylan for years overcharged the health program for the allergy shot. EpiPen has been wrongly classified as a generic treatment since 1997, allowing Mylan to pay much lower discounts than brand-name drugs, CMS said. Mylan, which bought the product about a decade later, denies it acted improperly. (Langreth, 10/5)
The Star Tribune: Federal Spending On EpiPen Devices Jumped 463 Percent Over 5 Years
Federal Medicare and Medicaid payments for Mylan Pharmaceutical’s EpiPen epinephrine injector rose from roughly $86 million in 2011 to about $487 million in 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) told U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar Wednesday. The five-year, 463 percent spending increase by the federally run health insurance programs will likely add to the uproar over Mylan’s pricing policies that have already sparked charges of price gouging and congressional hearings. (Spencer, 10/5)
