6 March 2019 - Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said Wednesday that drug discounts known as rebates are not directly benefiting sicker patients, an area where the Trump administration is looking to make changes.

Gottlieb, who announced Tuesday that he is resigning from the FDA, indicated that rebates should be passed directly to patients, rather than going to insurers and being used to lower premiums for everyone.

“The discounts come in the form of back-ended rebates in many cases that don't directly benefit the patient,” Gottlieb said at an event hosted by The Hill and sponsored by Eli Lilly.

“The patients who are spending the money and using the drugs and who are sick and out of pocket don't see the rebates directly,” he added. “The rebates are used to lower the price for everyone within a plan, so they're benefiting patients in the end, but they're not benefiting the patient who's sick and out of pocket.”

Read The Hill article