Tag Archives: Massachusetts

On January 27, 2021, Governor Baker of Massachusetts issued his FY 2022 Governor’s Budget. The budget legislation includes an anti-drug price increase measure that has previously been proposed by the Baker Administration on multiple occasions. Under the legislation, drug manufacturers “who establish[] an excessive price [meaning WAC] for any such drug directly or in cooperation with a related party, shall pay a per unit penalty on all units of the drug ultimately dispensed or administered in the commonwealth.”

Whether a drug price is excessive is determined by relation to the drug’s “reference price.” A drug’s “reference price” is the WAC of the drug on the later of January 1,… More

On July 31, 2019, Governor Charles Baker signed a law designed to increase supplemental rebates for prescription drugs in the Massachusetts Medicaid program (MassHealth).  This law follows on a somewhat similar law enacted in New York in 2017.

Under the new Massachusetts law, the state’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) can propose and negotiate for supplemental rebates for covered outpatient drugs directly with pharmaceutical manufacturers under an exemption to the Massachusetts public procurement law. … More

On May 7, 2019, the Ways and Means Committee of the Massachusetts Senate reported its final budget (S.4), which includes within it authority for the Commonwealth’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) to directly negotiate supplemental rebates with drug manufacturers for covered drugs on behalf of the Massachusetts Medicaid program, MassHealth.  The operative language appears in outside sections 4 and 39 of the budget and is substantially similar to drug rebate language initially appearing in the Governor’s FY20 budget.… More

On April 11, 2019, the Massachusetts House Committee on Ways and Means released its FY 2020 budget (H.3800).  The legislation includes provisions authorizing MassHealth (the Massachusetts Medicaid program) to negotiate supplemental rebates directly with drug manufacturers, and provides for further proceedings before the Health Policy Commission for manufacturers refusing to negotiate supplemental rebates at levels satisfactory to the Commonwealth. These provisions represent amendments to a MassHealth drug pricing proposal included in Governor Baker’s FY 2020 filing in January.… More

On October 17, 2017, the Massachusetts Senate Working Group on Health Care Cost and Containment and Reform (initially convened in the fall of 2016) released draft legislation entitled “An Act furthering Health Empowerment and Affordability by Leveraging Transformative Health Care.”  The Massachusetts Senate engrossed the bill, with significant amendments, on November 11, 2017 (the “bill”).  In addition to proposed changes in the regulation of hospitals and insurers operating within the state,… More

After a slow-down during the summer recesses, action on the drug price transparency front is beginning to increase as we enter the fall season.  Here are a few states to watch in the coming months:

California

California’s price transparency legislation, SB 17, passed the legislature on September 13, and now goes to Governor Jerry Brown for his signature.  The legislation had passed the Senate by a 28-10 vote on May 30,… More