WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today sent a letter urging the administration to take immediate action on pharmacy direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fee reforms to reduce prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries.
“While we commend the administration for your goal to reduce seniors’ out of pocket costs for prescription drugs, we believe that finalizing [the Modernizing Part D and Medicare Advantage to Lower Drug Prices and Reduce Out of Pocket Expenses] rule without including DIR reform is a missed opportunity to deliver real cost savings to Medicare beneficiaries. Without DIR reform, another year could pass before seniors see drug prices lowered at the pharmacy counter,” the senators write in the letter.
In a letter to President Donald Trump, the senators expressed disappointment that DIR reform was not included in the recently finalized Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rule—despite being included in the proposed rule—and urged the administration to “move forward with efforts to deliver seniors real relief from rising prescription drug costs.”
The letter was also signed by Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Jon Tester (R-Mont.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), John Thune (R-S.D.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Angus King (I-Maine), Bill Cassidy, MD (R-La.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), David Perdue (R-Ga.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), John Kennedy (R-La.), Doug Jones (D-Ala.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).
To read the full letter, click HERE.
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