Trump Medicare drug pricing model may apply to only four companies after exemptions

NEW YORK, Oct 1 (Reuters) - A Trump administration rule to cut hospital drug prices for Medicare patients may apply to as few as four drugmakers after exempting companies that signed separate "most favored nation" pricing agreements with the administration, according to the finalized rule.

According to the rule published on Wednesday evening, Medicare's regulator plans to waive the requirement manufacturers that have signed separate deals with the White House participate in the price-setting model, called GLOBE.

If that is the case, the number of remaining manufacturers that the model would apply to is 4, a footnote in the rule said. It does not name the companies.

The final rule also sharply reduced the government's projected savings from the model. HHS now estimates the program will reduce Medicare Part B spending by about $440 million over the model period, compared with roughly $11.9 billion projected in the proposed rule.

The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to questions about what drove the reduction in projected savings.

Trump has signed deals with more than two dozen drugmakers, including most of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer PFE.N, Eli Lilly LLY.N and Novo Nordisk NOVOb.CO, starting last year. According to the White House Council of Economic Advisers, that drug pricing push could save state governments $27.6 billion and the federal government $36.6 billion over the next decade.