Drug Pricing
Commentary
Giving The Gov’t Drug Patent March-In Authority Is Bad Policy
In early December, the Biden administration announced a proposal on exercising march-in rights on taxpayer-funded drugs and other inventions that allows prices to “be a factor in considering whether a drug is accessible to the public.” This is a terrible idea. As the Congressional Research Service summarized, it is an ...
Commentary
Reforming PBM Practices Would Improve The Pharmacy Market
Patients, the ultimate healthcare arbiter, continue to bear the costs from the perverse incentives driving the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) market. Because of these disincentives patients pay excessive out-of-pocket costs. Just as troubling, the misaligned incentives create impediments that dictate where patients can fill their prescriptions and which prescriptions they can ...
Commentary
Read latest about push for drug price controls
U.S. consumers shouldn’t be seduced by drug importation dreams and promises
Republicans, meanwhile, are embracing the price controls that foreign countries impose on prescription drugs. Texas recently enacted a law seeking approval from the Biden administration to import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada, my native land. Texas now joins Republican-led Florida and New Hampshire in pressing for a way to import ...
Commentary
Seniors are disappointed with efforts to lower Medicare costs — and rightly so
But wait, the law’s proponents may say: The federal government hasn’t yet exercised its power to “negotiate” — or more accurately, cap — the prices of drugs in Medicare. Those price controls may save the federal government money. But patients won’t see much of the savings. The federal government has ...
Commentary
Read about problems with 340B program
Incompetence, Abuse Comprise 340B Health Program
There’s a paradox at the center of American healthcare policy. The government will spend just shy of $2 trillion subsidizing healthcare this year — including over $500 billion on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. But low-income Americans still struggle to afford care. According to one recent poll by the ...
Commentary
Read latest about problems with PBMs
Decoupling PBM Fees Enhances Patient Outcomes
The three largest PBMs—Caremark (CVS Health/Aetna AET 0.0%), Express Scripts ESRX 0.0% (Cigna CI +0.7%), and OptumRx (UnitedHealth Group UNH +0.2%)—control 80% of the market and are integrated into large health insurance conglomerates. PBMs negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies on behalf of insurers and manage their drug formularies. Read ...
Commentary
Read about problems with drug price controls
Inflation Reduction Act kills incentives for medical innovation
The Biden administration recently announced the first 10 drugs that will be subject to price controls under Medicare as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. The president celebrated the occasion, saying, “We took on Big Pharma and special interests, overcoming opposition from every Republican in Congress, and the American people ...
Commentary
Read about the importance of drug price transparency
Transparency Is The Cure For What Ails American Health Care
A government shutdown has been averted—for now. Congress approved a continuing resolution this weekend that funds the government through mid-November. But the weeks-long fight put other important legislative work on hold. Take the “Lower Costs, More Transparency Act.” Late last month, lawmakers pulled it from the floor ahead of an ...
Commentary
Read about problems with drug price controls
Let’s Hope Drug Companies Win Price Controls War
The IRA gives federal officials the authority to dictate what Medicare pays for certain medicines — a scheme intended to reduce the government’s drug bill. Late last month, the Department of Health and Human Services announced the first 10 drugs subject to the law’s price controls, which include the blood thinners ...
Giving The Gov’t Drug Patent March-In Authority Is Bad Policy
In early December, the Biden administration announced a proposal on exercising march-in rights on taxpayer-funded drugs and other inventions that allows prices to “be a factor in considering whether a drug is accessible to the public.” This is a terrible idea. As the Congressional Research Service summarized, it is an ...
Reforming PBM Practices Would Improve The Pharmacy Market
Patients, the ultimate healthcare arbiter, continue to bear the costs from the perverse incentives driving the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) market. Because of these disincentives patients pay excessive out-of-pocket costs. Just as troubling, the misaligned incentives create impediments that dictate where patients can fill their prescriptions and which prescriptions they can ...
Read latest about push for drug price controls
U.S. consumers shouldn’t be seduced by drug importation dreams and promises
Republicans, meanwhile, are embracing the price controls that foreign countries impose on prescription drugs. Texas recently enacted a law seeking approval from the Biden administration to import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada, my native land. Texas now joins Republican-led Florida and New Hampshire in pressing for a way to import ...
Seniors are disappointed with efforts to lower Medicare costs — and rightly so
But wait, the law’s proponents may say: The federal government hasn’t yet exercised its power to “negotiate” — or more accurately, cap — the prices of drugs in Medicare. Those price controls may save the federal government money. But patients won’t see much of the savings. The federal government has ...
Read about problems with 340B program
Incompetence, Abuse Comprise 340B Health Program
There’s a paradox at the center of American healthcare policy. The government will spend just shy of $2 trillion subsidizing healthcare this year — including over $500 billion on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. But low-income Americans still struggle to afford care. According to one recent poll by the ...
Read latest about problems with PBMs
Decoupling PBM Fees Enhances Patient Outcomes
The three largest PBMs—Caremark (CVS Health/Aetna AET 0.0%), Express Scripts ESRX 0.0% (Cigna CI +0.7%), and OptumRx (UnitedHealth Group UNH +0.2%)—control 80% of the market and are integrated into large health insurance conglomerates. PBMs negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies on behalf of insurers and manage their drug formularies. Read ...
Read about problems with drug price controls
Inflation Reduction Act kills incentives for medical innovation
The Biden administration recently announced the first 10 drugs that will be subject to price controls under Medicare as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. The president celebrated the occasion, saying, “We took on Big Pharma and special interests, overcoming opposition from every Republican in Congress, and the American people ...
Read about the importance of drug price transparency
Transparency Is The Cure For What Ails American Health Care
A government shutdown has been averted—for now. Congress approved a continuing resolution this weekend that funds the government through mid-November. But the weeks-long fight put other important legislative work on hold. Take the “Lower Costs, More Transparency Act.” Late last month, lawmakers pulled it from the floor ahead of an ...
Read about problems with drug price controls
Let’s Hope Drug Companies Win Price Controls War
The IRA gives federal officials the authority to dictate what Medicare pays for certain medicines — a scheme intended to reduce the government’s drug bill. Late last month, the Department of Health and Human Services announced the first 10 drugs subject to the law’s price controls, which include the blood thinners ...
