The hope is that pooling all the Medicaid recipients can lead to better deals. Under federal law, state Medicaid programs already get a rebate of at least 23 percent for prescription drugs. But many states, including California, negotiate for additional discounts. Massachusetts recently applied to the federal government for permission to limit the number of drugs its Medicaid program covers, but its request was denied. It also orders officials to develop a plan for how private insurers and employers could benefit from the bulk purchasing deals negotiated by the state.

Source: New York Times January 11, 2019 21:56 UTC