Drug Pricing

Today , Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., will haul executives from three insulin manufacturers and three pharmacy benefit managers before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee for a hearing on “the need to make insulin affordable for all Americans.” Sen. Sanders is sure to call the pharmaceutical executives — ...

President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act is just eight months old. It hasn’t yet slayed inflation. But it’s already gutting drug research and development. The law gives Medicare the power to impose price controls on certain prescription drugs for the first time. By September, federal officials will select the first 10 ...

The Biden administration is in the midst of setting the terms for its program of price controls on prescription drugs dispensed through Medicare. The first 10 medicines subject to the price caps will be selected by the end of this year. That prospect is already chilling investment in drug research, particularly ...

Congress is beginning to push back on pharmaceutical benefit managers (PBMs). PRI’s Wayne Winegarden tells NTD News that a large problem lies in the lack of transparency in the drug pricing system. Reforming the PBM system could reduce costs for patients. Click to watch the interview on NTD News.

President Biden just released his budget plan for the next fiscal year. It purports to extend Medicare’s solvency by decades and reassure the millions of Americans who rely on the program. But once they realize his approach will grind drug research to a halt, perhaps they’ll come to a different conclusion. The ...

Pharmacy benefit managers are in the congressional hot seat. Last Thursday, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing examining the middlemen’s impact on patients. Earlier in March, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability launched an investigation into PBM tactics that are “harming patient care and increasing costs for consumers.” ...

Despite the rancor, there are many bipartisan opportunities for the divided 118th Congress. Near the top of the to-do list should be reforming the well-intentioned, but poorly designed, 340B drug discount program. 340B enables qualifying institutions to purchase medicines from manufacturers at steep discounts, generally between 25% and 50% off list ...

The United States currently faces a deficit of over $700 billion.  Not including other health programs, in 2021, over $734 billion was spent on Medicaid alone. Despite these facts, President Biden’s 2024 budget proposal aims to increase funding for healthcare by 11.5%. The proposal claims proposed tax increases  will not ...

The Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) drug pricing provisions will severely curtail life-science research. The IRA vests the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services with the power to impose price controls on an ever-expanding list of drugs. The direct result will be that seniors today — as well as future generations ...