Drug Innovation
Commentary
Small-Molecule Price Controls Are A Big Mistake
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 ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 8, 2023
Drug Innovation
Wayne Winegarden on NTD News to Discuss Congress Pushing Back on Pharmaceutical Benefit Managers
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.
Wayne Winegarden
May 2, 2023
Commentary
Price controls in Medicare will kill new cures
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 ...
Sally C. Pipes
April 18, 2023
Commentary
Read about the middlemen in healthcare
Pharmacy benefit managers are picking patients’ pockets
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.” ...
Sally C. Pipes
April 3, 2023
Commentary
A Bipartisan Regulatory Reform Opportunity: 340B
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 ...
Wayne Winegarden
March 23, 2023
Blog
Key Takeaways from President Biden’s Proposed 2024 Healthcare Budget
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 ...
McKenzie Richards
March 22, 2023
Commentary
Grave Mistake to Fix Drug Prices Without Esteem for Their Value
Democrats remain fixated on prescription drug prices. Last August, they managed to include price controls on drugs dispensed through Medicare in the Inflation Reduction Act. And they’re not done meddling. Earlier this month, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, called on President Biden to unilaterally suspend drug patents in order “to address the crisis ...
Sally C. Pipes
January 17, 2023
Commentary
To help patients save money, Congress needs to tackle the middlemen in health care
As a Republican-controlled House of Representatives with a small majority opens for business in January, one member has especially big ideas for saving patients money on prescription drug costs — and the research to back it up. A year ago, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) released a comprehensive report on the ...
Sally C. Pipes
January 6, 2023
Commentary
Price Controls, Publicly Funded Insurance Won’t Deliver Value
On Dec. 14, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (cms.gov) released their latest estimate of the country’s annual healthcare tab. For the second straight year, U.S. healthcare spending topped $4 trillion. In 2021, health spending accounted for more than 18% of U.S. GDP. Progressives tend to cite numbers like these ...
Sally C. Pipes
December 27, 2022
Commentary
An Effective Treatment for Alzheimer’s, But Only if ICER Allows It
Three days before Christmas, the Institute for Clinical & Economic Review (ICER) is scheduled to publish a draft assessment of two promising treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. Unfortunately for the millions of Americans living with this fatal illness, it is likely that ICER will be giving lumps of coal, not gifts, ...
Wayne Winegarden
December 16, 2022
Small-Molecule Price Controls Are A Big Mistake
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 ...
Wayne Winegarden on NTD News to Discuss Congress Pushing Back on Pharmaceutical Benefit Managers
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.
Price controls in Medicare will kill new cures
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 ...
Read about the middlemen in healthcare
Pharmacy benefit managers are picking patients’ pockets
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.” ...
A Bipartisan Regulatory Reform Opportunity: 340B
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 ...
Key Takeaways from President Biden’s Proposed 2024 Healthcare Budget
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 ...
Grave Mistake to Fix Drug Prices Without Esteem for Their Value
Democrats remain fixated on prescription drug prices. Last August, they managed to include price controls on drugs dispensed through Medicare in the Inflation Reduction Act. And they’re not done meddling. Earlier this month, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, called on President Biden to unilaterally suspend drug patents in order “to address the crisis ...
To help patients save money, Congress needs to tackle the middlemen in health care
As a Republican-controlled House of Representatives with a small majority opens for business in January, one member has especially big ideas for saving patients money on prescription drug costs — and the research to back it up. A year ago, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) released a comprehensive report on the ...
Price Controls, Publicly Funded Insurance Won’t Deliver Value
On Dec. 14, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (cms.gov) released their latest estimate of the country’s annual healthcare tab. For the second straight year, U.S. healthcare spending topped $4 trillion. In 2021, health spending accounted for more than 18% of U.S. GDP. Progressives tend to cite numbers like these ...
An Effective Treatment for Alzheimer’s, But Only if ICER Allows It
Three days before Christmas, the Institute for Clinical & Economic Review (ICER) is scheduled to publish a draft assessment of two promising treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. Unfortunately for the millions of Americans living with this fatal illness, it is likely that ICER will be giving lumps of coal, not gifts, ...