(Washington, DC)— The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) issued the following statement today on the rule issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) relating to Average Manufacturer Price (AMP). PCMA is the national association representing America’s pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which administer prescription drug plans for more than 210 million Americans with health coverage provided through Fortune 500 employers, health insurance plans, labor unions, and Medicare Part D:

“We are encouraged that the rule exempts PBM retail business rebates and discounts from inclusion in the calculation of AMP. As PCMA communicated to CMS during the comment period, including this information would not only have been logistically difficult, but could have had the unintended consequence of negatively impacting manufacturer drug discounting behavior and causing drug prices to increase for the entire pharmaceutical marketplace. We are pleased CMS chose to exempt the inclusion of this proprietary information from AMP.

“However, we remain concerned that mail-service and specialty pharmacy remain included in the definition of ‘retail class of trade’ since neither one dispenses to the ‘general public.’

“PCMA is considering providing further comment on the rule to CMS with regard to the inclusion of mail-service and specialty pharmacy in the current definition.”

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Contact Information:
Charles Coté 202-207-3605