Overview and Analysis of the Proposed Federal Sunshine Regulations

On December 19, 2011, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published a proposed rule (the “Proposed Rule”) related to section 6002 of the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as the “Physician Payment Sunshine Act.” The Physician Payment Sunshine Act requires applicable manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologicals, or medical supplies covered under Medicare, Medicaid, or CHIP to report annually to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (“Secretary”) certain payments or other transfers of value to physicians and teaching hospitals. Additionally, applicable manufacturers and applicable group purchasing organizations (“GPOs”) must report certain information regarding the ownership or investment interests in them that are held by physicians or their immediate family members.

To learn more about this development regarding the Physician Payment Sunshine Act, please see the full post written by Elizabeth B. Carder-Thompson, Katie C. Pawlitz, Nancy E. Bonifant and Debra A. McCurdy on Reed Smith’s Health Industry Washington Watch blog.

CMS Awards "Survey Of Retail Prices" Contract To Myers and Stauffer - Moves One Step Closer To Average Acquisition Cost

On July 8, 2011, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it had awarded Myers and Stauffer, LC a contract to prepare a monthly survey of retail community pharmacy ("RCP") prescription drug prices. The contract is in furtherance of CMS’s commitment to develop and publish “Average Acquisition Cost” ("AAC") data reflecting RCPs’ purchase costs for all covered outpatient drugs, for potential use by State Medicaid agencies in rate-setting. The details regarding how AAC will be collected, calculated and reported could be significant for pharmacies, manufacturers and other industry participants. 

To learn more about this development regarding AAC, please see the full post written by Bob Hill, Joe Metro, Dan Cody, Vicky Gormanly on Reed Smith's Health Industry Washington Watch.