In a recent report, “Medicaid Drug Pricing in State Maximum Allowable Cost Programs,” the OIG examines options for controlling state Medicaid prescription drug costs, particularly given a surge in Medicaid enrollment expected in the coming years as a result of the ACA. The OIG highlights the value of state Maximum Allowable Cost (MAC) programs as an alternative to federal upper limit (FUL) pricing, especially since CMS is years behind in implementing AMP-based federal upper limit (FUL) amounts under the ACA. The OIG found that aggregate pre-ACA FUL amounts were on average nearly double state MAC prices in January 2012, although the post-ACA FUL amounts (which have not been implemented) were lower than MAC prices on average. The OIG also notes that states could achieve additional cost savings by using more aggressive MAC pricing formulas and inclusion criteria, particularly along the lines of Wyoming’s program, which sets MAC prices by considering (1) acquisition cost plus a markup, (2) wholesale acquisition cost (WAC) minus a percentage, (3) average wholesale price (AWP) minus a percentage, or (4) AMP plus a markup. According to the OIG, 39 states would have saved $483 million (excluding dispensing fees) in the first half of 2011 if they had used Wyoming’s MAC criteria. The OIG recommends that CMS complete implementation of the post-ACA FUL amounts; CMS concurred and said it plans to finalize these FULs in the near future. CMS also concurred with OIG’s recommendation to encourage states to reevaluate their Medicaid programs to identify additional cost saving opportunities, and noted its plans to release a related informational bulletin to the states in the near future.