Figures released by CMS show that U.S. government health plans spent more than $1 billion on Mylan's EpiPens in a five-year period, reports Reuters.
CMS, in response to a request from U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), said in a letter that the Medicaid plan spent $797 million on EpiPens between 2011 and 2015, or $960 million before rebates, according to the report. Costs for the Medicare Part D program was nearly $335 million, a number that does not include rebates, the report states.
Lawmakers contend Canonsburg, Pa.-based Mylan, which has been under scrutiny for raising prices on its EpiPen, underpaid rebates to state Medicaid programs by classifying the life-saving device as a generic product rather than a branded one, according to the report. Therefore, Mylan pays a 13 percent rebate for every EpiPen it sells under the Medicaid rebate program compared with a minimum 23.1 percent for a branded drug.
Mylan maintains it did not violate CMS rules and said Wednesday the classification of EpiPen for Medicaid rebates was made in 1997, 10 years before it acquired the product, according to the report.