Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

States call on CMS to withdraw controversial pharma reg.  Drugmakers will have to go back to the drawing board when it comes to assessing how long they're obliged to keep pricing records if state fraud fighters get their way. Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly Oct. 28 called on Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services chief Tom Scully to immediately withdraw the Aug. 29 final rule that allows pharmaceutical companies to destroy documents relating to the Medicaid drug rebate program after three years. Reilly was joined by AGs in 44 other states; Minnesota AG Mike Hatch is working on a separate letter opposing the rule. The AGs maintain that the rule would permit drugmakers to destroy documents that otherwise would serve as valuable evidence in fraud cases. And they're not alone in their opposition to the reg - Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) also has made his dislike of the rule clear, arguing that it would put a damper on whistleblower suits. Lesson Learned: Increasing resistance to the recordkeeping rule could run it off the tracks before its Jan. 1, 2004 effective date arrives.