New Managed Care Study Results from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard University Described (Supplemental Rebates From Drug Makers To State Medicaid Programs Grew Fivefold From 2017 To 2024): Managed Care

2026 OCT 19 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Research findings on Managed Care are discussed in a new report. According to news reporting out of Boston, Massachusetts, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “State Medicaid agencies receive discounted prescription drugs through the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program. States also can negotiate supplemental manufacturer rebates, but evidence on the variation and size of these rebates is limited.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard University, “Using Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data, we found that mean supplemental rebates per beneficiary grew from $19 (2 percent of gross Medicaid drug spending) in fiscal year 2017 to $93 (7 percent) in FY 2024. Rebates varied between states (range: $2-$183 per beneficiary in FY 2024). Mean rebates per beneficiary were $20 higher in thirty-five states that participated in multistate purchasing groups compared with rebates in states negotiating independently, adjusting for number of beneficiaries, fiscal year, and managed care use. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we found that rebates per beneficiary increased by $21 after four states joined purchasing groups compared with rebates in states that had not joined, but these results were not significant.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Supplemental rebates may represent a meaningful tool for states to offset growing prescription drug spending.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Supplemental Rebates From Drug Makers To State Medicaid Programs Grew Fivefold From 2017 To 2024. Health Affairs, 2026;45(10):1117-1124.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Jason B. Gibbons, Jason B. Gibbons, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts. Additional authors for this research include Max C. Yates, Aaron S. Kesselheim and Benjamin N. Rome.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)