Medicaid MCO PBM Pricing

The State Medicaid agency and the Federal Government are responsible for financial risk for the costs of Medicaid services. Managed care organizations (MCOs) contract with State Medicaid agencies to ensure that beneficiaries receive covered Medicaid services including prescription drugs. MCOs may contract with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to manage or administer the prescription drug benefits on their behalf. Spread pricing is a practice where a PBM charges an MCO more for a drug than the amount a PBM pays a pharmacy. Our audit will determine whether States provide adequate oversight of Medicaid MCOs to ensure accountability over amounts paid for prescription drug benefits to its PBMs.

Announced or Revised	Agency	Title	Component	Report Number(s)	Expected Issue Date (FY)
Completed (partial)	Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services	Medicaid MCO PBM Pricing	Office of Audit Services	W-00-20-31542; A-03-20-00200	2024