Trump Administration Finalizes GLOBE Medicare Drug Pricing Rule

The Trump administration finalized a rule for the GLOBE price-setting model designed to lower hospital drug prices for Medicare patients. The final rule exempts pharmaceutical companies that have already signed separate most favored nation pricing agreements with the White House, a move that may leave as few as four drugmakers subject to the model's requirements.

Because of these exemptions, the United States Department of Health and Human Services significantly lowered its projected savings for Medicare Part B spending. The agency now estimates savings of approximately $440 million over the model period, a sharp decrease from the $11.9 billion projected in the proposed rule.

Separately, the White House has signed pricing deals with more than two dozen drugmakers, including Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and Novo Nordisk. The White House Council of Economic Advisers claims these individual agreements could save the federal government $36.6 billion and state governments $27.6 billion over the next decade.