Lawsuits, Tax Fuel Doubt as Medicare Preps Drug Pricing Talks

Ongoing litigation from the pharmaceutical industry threatens to delay Medicare’s plans for negotiating lower prices for some of the drugs it spends the most on as questions linger on how the federal government will implement certain parts of the law.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is rapidly approaching a Sept. 1 deadline to publish the list of the first 10 Part D drugs for which manufacturers must negotiate lower prices with the government. While the official batch of companies has yet to be announced, analysts predict Merck & Co., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., and Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. ...