People
John M. Coster, PhD, RPh
Nonresident Senior Scholar, USC Schaeffer Institute
Former Senior Technical Advisor and Director of the Division of Pharmacy, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Biography
Dr. John Coster has been involved with pharmaceutical public policy issues for almost 35 years since he joined the Professional Staff of the United States Senate Committee on Aging in 1990, and helped draft the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program as part of OBRA 90 and the 340B Drug Discount Program as part of the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992. Before joining the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2014, he spent almost 20 years (1995-2014) working on pharmacy relating legislative, regulatory and public policy issues with professional associations representing independent community pharmacies, chain operated pharmacies, and 340B hospitals.
At CMS, he was Director of the Division of Pharmacy within the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS) from 2014 through 2022, where he supervised a staff of 20 individuals, and was responsible for the operation of the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, which brings in over $50 billion in drug manufacturer rebates to the states and Federal government. As Director, he supervised the policy development and publication of three major Medicaid pharmaceutical regulations, including the Covered Outpatient Drug Regulation in 2016, the Medicaid Value Based Purchasing Regulation in 2020, and the Medicaid Drug Misclassification Regulation in 2024.
From Fall 2022 through 2025 he was Senior Technical Advisor for the Medicare Drug Rebate and Negotiation Group (MDRNG) in the Center for Medicare (CM), which was established within CMS to implement the Medicare Parts B and D inflation rebate provisions and the Medicare drug price negotiation programs established as part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022. In that role, he was extensively involved in the development of the guidance and regulations relating to the Medicare price drug negotiation program, the Medicare Transaction Facilitator (MTF), pharmacy reimbursement issues, Part B and D drug inflation rebate policies, and 340B related issues.
Dr. Coster is recognized as an expert on Medicare and Medicaid prescription drug program coverage and reimbursement issues, as well as pharmaceutical pricing issues (e.g., MFP, AMP, ASP, best price, rebates, 340B ceiling price). He has had extensive involvement in the development and implementation of major government pharmaceutical pricing and rebate programs, and understands the complex interactions and dynamins between these metrics.
He graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Pharmacy from St John’s University College of Pharmacy and earned a Master’s and Ph.D. in Policy Sciences (Health) from the University of Maryland Graduate School. He also holds Adjunct Professor appointments at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy Graduate School and George Washington University School of Public Health.