Heather Landi reports for Fierce Healthcare on how Donald Trump’s former Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, and Joe Biden’s current Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Xavier Becerra, would address high drug prices. Not surprisingly, their views differ significantly.
Azar does not recognize that pharmaceutical companies in the US engage in price fixing. Or, that the pharmaceutical companies often delay the release of new drugs in order to maximize profits on older drugs, hampering innovation. Or, that it’s much easier for people in France to fill their prescriptions than people in the United States because out-of-pocket costs in the US are so high.
Azar does recognize the power of pharmacy benefit managers, PBMs, to drive up people’s out-of-pocket costs, but does not suggest a plan to fix that issue,. For example, he does not propose removing PBMs from the process of deciding which drugs are covered and at what price to patients.
Last year, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act or IRA, giving Medicare drug price negotiating power for 10 drugs in 2025; the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have chosent the 10 drugs, based on which cost the Medicare program the most. The IRA also capped out-of-pocket costs for each insulin product people with diabetes use at $35 a month. And, it imposed an out-of-pocket limit of $2,000 for drugs covered by Medicare Part D plans beginning in 2025.
President Joe Biden’s HHS Secretary Becerra touts Medicare’s drug price negotiation power as an effective way to lower drug costs, pointing out that the IRA now caps the cost of insulin at $35 per month for seniors who have Medicare.
Of note, the Trump administration had proposed that Part B drug prices–for inpatient drugs–be tied to prices paid abroad for these drugs. That sounds to me as if it would have been a smart move. But, the Biden administration rescinded that proposal, likely under pressure from the pharmaceutical industry.
Here’s more from Just Care:
- Biden administration penalizes drug companies hiking drug prices above the rate of inflation
- Case study: Costco saves one couple hundreds of dollars over Medicare Part D
- GAO finds US drug prices more than four times those in France
- Millions safely import low-cost drugs from abroad
- Six tips for keeping your drug costs down if you have Medicare
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