Skip to main content
Date Issued
Submitting OIG
Department of Health & Human Services OIG
Other Participating OIGs
Department of Health & Human Services OIG
Agencies Reviewed/Investigated
Department of Health & Human Services
Report Number
A-06-16-00001
Report Description

For a covered outpatient drug to be eligible for Federal reimbursement under the program, the drug’s manufacturer must enter into a rebate agreement that is administered by the CMS and pay quarterly rebates to the States. Manufacturers are required to submit a list to CMS of all covered outpatient drugs and to report each drug’s average manufacturer price and, where applicable, best price. On the basis of this information, CMS calculates a unit rebate amount for each drug and provides the information to the States each quarter. Section 1903(i)(10) of the Act prohibits Federal reimbursement for States that do not capture the information necessary for billing manufacturers for rebates as described in section 1927 of the Act. To bill for rebates, States capture drug utilization data that identifies, by NDC, the number of units of each drug for which the States reimbursed Medicaid providers and report the information to the manufacturers. The number of units is multiplied by the unit rebate amount to determine the actual rebate amount due from each manufacturer. States use two primary models to pay for Medicaid services: fee-for-service and managed care. In the managed-care model, States contract with MCOs to provide specific services to enrolled Medicaid beneficiaries, usually in return for a predetermined periodic payment known as a capitation payment. States pay MCOs for each covered individual regardless of whether the enrollee received services during the relevant time period. MCOs use the capitation payments to pay provider claims for these services. Capitation payments may cover outpatient drugs, which include both pharmacy and physician-administered drugs. To claim Federal reimbursement, States report capitation payments made to MCOs as MCO expenditures on the Form CMS-64. These expenditures are not identified by specific type of service (such as pharmacy or physician-administered drugs). When States receive drug rebates from manufacturers, the States must report the rebates as decreasing adjustments on the CMS-64 report. States report drug rebate accounts receivable data on the Medicaid Drug Rebate Schedule, which is part of the CMS-64 report. CMS reimburses States for the Federal share of Medicaid expenditures reported on the CMS-64 report.To collect rebates for drugs, States submit to the manufacturers the drug utilization data containing NDCs for the drugs. NDCs enable States to identify the drugs and their manufacturers and to facilitate the collection of rebates for the drugs. The DRA amended section 1927 of the Act to specifically address the collection of rebates on physician-administered drugs for all single-source and top-20 multiple-source drugs. Effective March 23, 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) required manufacturers to pay rebates on covered outpatient drugs dispensed to MCO enrollees if the MCOs are responsible for coverage of such drugs. Before the enactment of the ACA, drugs dispensed by Medicaid MCOs were excluded from the rebate requirements. States typically require MCOs to submit to the State agency NDCs for covered outpatient drugs dispensed to eligible individuals. MCOs submit to the State agency provider claim information, including claim lines for covered outpatient drugs. This information includes drug utilization data, which States must include when billing manufacturers for rebates. The State agency, which is responsible for billing and collecting Medicaid drug rebates for both pharmacy and physician-administered drugs, contracted with Conduent State Healthcare, LLC (the contractor), during our audit period to manage its drug rebate program. However, during most of our audit period, the State agency conducted most of those duties. The State agency did not start billing manufacturers for rebates related to physician-administered drugs until 2013, at which time they began retroactively billing for claims back to 2010.

Report Type
Audit
Location

NM,
United States

Number of Recommendations
5
Questioned Costs
$900,971
Funds for Better Use
$0

Open Recommendations

This report has 5 open recommendations.
Recommendation Number Significant Recommendation Recommended Questioned Costs Recommended Funds for Better Use Additional Details
270685 No $900,971 $0

We recommend that the New Mexico Human Services Department bill for and collect manufacturers' rebates for the 44,790 claim lines related to single-source and top-20 multiple-source physician-administered drugs that we calculated to be at least $1,239,130 ($900,971 Federal share) and refund the Federal share of rebates collected.

270686 No $0 $0

We recommend that the New Mexico Human Services Department work with CMS to determine whether the 25,341 claim lines related to non-top-20 multiple-source physician-administered drugs that we calculated to be at least $226,644 ($164,793 Federal share) were eligible for rebates and, if so, determine the rebates due and, upon receipt of the rebates, refund the Federal share of the rebates collected.

270687 No $0 $0

We recommend that the New Mexico Human Services Department work with CMS to determine whether the other physician-administered drugs, associated with 183,859 claim lines and rebates of at least $170,674 ($124,097 Federal share), were eligible for rebates and, if so, determine the rebates due and, upon receipt of the rebates, refund the Federal share of the rebates collected.

270688 No $0 $0

We recommend that the New Mexico Human Services Department strengthen internal controls to ensure that all eligible physician-administered drugs are billed for rebate.

270689 No $0 $0

We recommend that the New Mexico Human Services Department ensure that all pharmacy and physician-administered drugs eligible for rebates after our audit period are processed for rebates.

Department of Health & Human Services OIG

United States