Amid public backlash over Mylan’s 400 percent price increase for EpiPens, several senators are raising new concerns that misclassification of the drug prompted millions of dollars in overpayments.
After calling for an investigation into Mylan’s price hike last month, Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), along with Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services asking why EpiPens were classified as a generic drug. CMS subsequently discovered that the drug company misclassified EpiPens, triggering lower discounts through the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, according to a release from the Klobuchar. The misclassification led to $4.3 million in overpayments last year.
“That’s just one state, over the course of one year, for one drug,” Klobuchar said in the announcement.
In a letter to Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, Grassley indicated that the same overpayments could be linked to Iowa’s Medicaid program. He called on Miller to investigate how much the state spent on EpiPens over the last five years and how much of that was linked to overpayments.
Mylan refuted Klobuchar's overpayment claims, but told the Star Tribune it plans to file an application to reclassify EpiPens.
Mylan’s practices have drawn scrutiny from other senators, including Elizabeth Warrant (D-Mass.) who recently questioned the company’s copay discounts. Reacting to scrutiny of its price hike, last week Mylan launched a generic version of the EpiPen with a $300 price tag.