Drug Makers Failing to Report Pricing to Medicaid
Under federal law, drug makers are required to provide the government with drug pricing that allows calculations of discounts for Medicaid. In a recent inquiry, the government reported that three-fourths of manufacturers were not submitting the pricing, filing it late, or submitting inaccurate information. The result of the failure to comply is that states are often unable to calculate their drug rebates or calculate them incorrectly.
Drug makers responded by issuing a statement that they do take the requirements seriously, but the complexity of the requirements make reporting difficult. The government has the ability to charge up to $10,000 per day for inaccurate or missing pricing, but it has never imposed the fines. Medicaid officials report that they do not presently have the resources to identify which drug makers are not reporting the pricing. After the release of the audit results, Medicaid officials agreed to pursue noncompliant drug makers but would not discuss how they planned to do so.