In response to a tidal wave of public opposition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services informed Congress on Monday that the agency is shelving its proposal to participate in Medicare Part D prescription drug price negotiations. As Boyden Gray explained in a February 26 letter, the proposed rule would have violated the noninterference provision of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003.
The agency cited “numerous concerns about some elements of the proposal from members of Congress and stakeholders” in its letter announcing that it would not finalize the proposed rule.
Ambassador Gray’s letter was cited in the testimony of Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum, in a February 26 hearing before the House Energy & Commerce Committee.