On Sunday, August 7, the Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act via use of reconciliation, which is a procedure allowing for passage in the Senate by simple majority. The legislation passed on a party-line vote, with Vice President Harris casting the tie-breaker. The House is expected to return to D.C. to vote on the legislation on Friday, August 12.
The legislation includes significant healthcare policies, including, among other provisions, the creation of a $2,000 annual out-of-pocket cap in Part D and the creation of a new mechanism for Medicare to set a “maximum fair price” (MFP) for certain single-source drugs. The MFP mechanism’s first full pricing applicability year is 2026 for Part D drugs; medications covered pursuant to Part B would not be fully subject to the MFP until 2028. Once the legislation is enacted, the Department of Health and Human Services will begin the rulemaking process to implement these and other provisions. CSRO will monitor all regulatory activities related to implementation and provide input to the Department throughout the process.