Drug Prices

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Read how Biden plan would hurt medical innovation

The Biden Administration Abuses Inflation to Attack Medical Innovation

It is theoretically bankrupt because price changes for individual goods and services reflect unique market factors in addition to broad-based inflation trends. There is no reason to expect any good’s price changes to always equal the average of all price changes (e.g., measured inflation). For instance, a deep frost that ...
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 ...
Commentary

Read about problems of PBMs

Congress Waking Up to PBMs Drug Cost Manipulations

PBMs work for (or increasingly are part of) insurance companies. They decide which drugs patients can access and negotiate rebates to drugs’ list prices. The term “rebates” sounds like these discounts should benefit patients, but PBMs and insurers pocket these savings while basing patients’ costs on the higher undiscounted prices. ...
Commentary

Read latest about problems with PBMs

Pharmacy benefit manager reform must remain a priority for Congress

Congress has returned to Capitol Hill from summer recess. Lawmakers in both chambers have a full slate of policy priorities to attend to — not least among them funding the government and averting a shutdown before the Sept. 30 deadline. Several healthcare items will also remain near the top of ...
Blog

Read how Biden plan would hurt medical innovation

The Biden Administration Abuses Inflation to Attack Medical Innovation

It is theoretically bankrupt because price changes for individual goods and services reflect unique market factors in addition to broad-based inflation trends. There is no reason to expect any good’s price changes to always equal the average of all price changes (e.g., measured inflation). For instance, a deep frost that ...
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 ...
Commentary

Read about problems of PBMs

Congress Waking Up to PBMs Drug Cost Manipulations

PBMs work for (or increasingly are part of) insurance companies. They decide which drugs patients can access and negotiate rebates to drugs’ list prices. The term “rebates” sounds like these discounts should benefit patients, but PBMs and insurers pocket these savings while basing patients’ costs on the higher undiscounted prices. ...
Commentary

Read latest about problems with PBMs

Pharmacy benefit manager reform must remain a priority for Congress

Congress has returned to Capitol Hill from summer recess. Lawmakers in both chambers have a full slate of policy priorities to attend to — not least among them funding the government and averting a shutdown before the Sept. 30 deadline. Several healthcare items will also remain near the top of ...
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