On May 16, 2018, the House Committee on Ways and Means ordered seven bills to be reported related to the nation’s response to the opioid epidemic. Because the bills are related, CBO is publishing a single comprehensive document that includes estimates for each piece of legislation.
H.R. 5676 would allow prescription drug plans to suspend payments to pharmacies while fraud investigations are pending. CBO expects that enacting the legislation would reduce payments by those plans to pharmacies and result in lower premiums for benefits under Medicare’s Part D. CBO estimates that the reduction in premiums would lower federal spending for Part D by $9 million over the 2019-2028 period.
