Off-label use of antipsychotics remains a common part of long-term care, researchers show

Requiring generic drug makers to pay rebates when they raised prices faster than inflation would have trimmed $1.4 billion from Medicaid outlays over the past decade, notes a report from the Office of Inspector General.

Auditors found that generic drug prices outpaced inflation in 22% of the medications they examined for the study. Branded medications are already required to issue rebates when this happens.

The OIG encouraged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to consider seeking legislative authority that would extend the same rule to companies making generic drugs.