Do the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) cause inadvertent barriers to positive health outcomes by prohibiting beneficiaries from using discount drug coupons? One could argue yes…and no. Either way, the rule can negatively impact the patient experience.

As Kaiser Health News’ Michelle Andrews advised one reader, discount drug coupons run afoul of anti-kickback regulations that prevent companies from incentivizing consumers with payments for treatments or services that Medicare or Medicaid would usually cover.

Yes, privately insured citizens can receive deeper out-of-pocket savings by participating in coupon incentive programs that their Medicare/Medicaid-dependent peers cannot. And that can cause barriers to care in instances where the latter group faces higher out-of-pocket costs for medications.

But there’s a darker, lesser-known side to the debate.

Discount drug coupons are usually offered for expensive brand medications (rather than cheaper generics) and are often capped, so a patient who becomes dependent on a brand medication — or whose doctor does a poor job of offering or explaining alternative medications — could later be on the hook for unexpected co-pays.

Read the full discussion here, from Kaiser Health News, via NPR.