Those Medicaid rebates would jump by one third — to 20 percent from 15 percent - under a provision passed by the Senate Appropriations committee. The measure would enact a two-year moratorium on looming Medicaid rules changes that would lower payments to hospitals and other government providers to the poor.

The White House wants the rules changes to save money, so some committee members are turning to the pharmaceutical industry - and rebates - as a way of making up the difference. Senate majority whip Richard Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, estimated the move would yield $1.35 billion over five years. The measure was folded into a larger spending bill for the Iraq war.

Source: The Wall Street Journal (subscription required)

[tags]Medicaid, Rebates[/tags]