Final 2025 NBPP Addresses Copay Maximizers, Is Silent on Accumulators

While CMS has thus far declined to take action on companies using copayment accumulators, the agency is moving forward to prohibit the use of a similar type of program, it revealed in the final 2025 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters (NBPP). Still, the rule — at least at this point — applies only to certain plan sponsors, and it is unclear how manufacturer patient assistance ultimately will be treated.

Several years ago, health plans and PBMs began implementing copay accumulators to counter manufacturer copay assistance programs. A next-generation version of these tools known as copay maximizers soon followed.

Before these tools, manufacturer assistance would count toward beneficiaries’ annual out-of-pocket expenses. When those out-of-pocket maximums were reached, health plans would cover the remainder of members’ costs for the year.