Tag: prescription drug prices

Trump officials preparing to move forward with major step to lower Medicare drug prices

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The Trump administration is preparing to move forward with a major proposal to lower drug prices and rulemaking could come as soon as this week, according to people familiar with the effort.

The move, fiercely opposed by the pharmaceutical industry, would implement President Trump’s “most favored nation” proposal and lower certain Medicare drug prices to match prices in other wealthy countries.

Trump issued an executive order in September calling for steps to that effect, but it was unclear whether the administration would still go forward with implementing the proposal, especially given the election and a coming change in administration. Continue reading.

Phillips to Host Drug Cost Listening Session at Plymouth Pharmacy on Sunday

Phillips will hear from Minnesotans who are struggling to pay for their life-saving medications at a pharmacy in Plymouth on Sunday

MINNETONKA, MN – Following House passage of H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03) and local leaders will hear from Minnesotans who are struggling to pay for their life-saving medications at a pharmacy in Plymouth on Sunday, December 15th at 2:00 PM.

Phillips is a co-sponsor of H.R. 3, which passed the House on Wednesday and is now awaiting action in the Senate. President Donald Trump had previously expressed supportfor the groundbreaking legislation, which would allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. If the Senate fails to pass H.R. 3, Americans will remain subject to outrageous price-gouging by the pharmaceutical industry and continue to pay four times more for their prescription medications than patients in other countries. Continue reading “Phillips to Host Drug Cost Listening Session at Plymouth Pharmacy on Sunday”

Game-changing H.R. 3 would stop prescription-drug price gouging

When we began running for Congress, we immediately heard from Minnesotans who were worried about their health care. They were worried about threats to protections for people with pre-existing conditions, about being one illness away from financial ruin, and about skyrocketing prices of their life-saving prescription drugs. The consensus is clear on health care more than any other issue — people in our communities want their elected leaders to reform and protect their care.

We listened, and we promised that if elected, we’d fight for a health care system that is centered on patients and outcomes, not procedures and profits. In no small part, that is why Minnesotans chose to send us to Washington, and that’s why we’re proud to continue fulfilling that promise by helping to introduce H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, in the House of Representatives this month.

This game-changing prescription drug pricing bill finally gives Medicare leverage to negotiate lower drug prices. It has been estimated by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Centers for Medicare (CMS) Office of the Actuary that H.R. 3 will lower drug prices by up to 55% — saving hard-working Americans an enormous $158 billion.

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Walz Signs Bill Regulating Pharmacy Benefit Managers

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Governor Walz held a ceremonial signing today for Representative Alice Mann’s bill to lower the cost of prescription drugs by regulating and requiring transparency from Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), which serve as pharmaceutical middle men.

“The pharmacy benefit manager bill brings transparency to prescription drug prices, which have skyrocketed in recent years,” said Rep. Alice Mann (DFL-Lakeville). “Pharmacy benefit managers are a powerful player in our health care system and we’re going to shine a light to see how these prices come about and try to bend the cost curve.”

PBMs are a middle man between drug manufacturers and pharmacies, developing and maintaining lists of covered drugs (formularies) that they offer to pharmacies. Drug manufacturers give PBMs rebates – or kickbacks – to encourage the PBM to place their product on the formulary, with no guarantee that the rebate will be passed on to consumers. Higher rebates incentivize PBMs to remove less expensive drugs from formularies, and encourage companies to raise list prices. All of this raises the price of prescription drugs. Continue reading “Walz Signs Bill Regulating Pharmacy Benefit Managers”

Phillips Votes to Lower Prescription Drug Costs, Strengthen the Affordable Care Act

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03) voted in favor of H.R. 987, the Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act, an omnibus bill of health care measures that passed the House today.

“Today we took action to reduce prescription drug and health care costs, while strengthening the ACA,” said Phillips. “We’re making health care more affordable and accessible for Minnesotans and people across the country. This bill is just common sense – it makes government work better and saves everyone money in the process.”

The price of prescription drugs continues to grow rapidly. 24 percent of Americans didn’t fill a prescription in the past year, and 19 percent of Americans said they skipped a dose or cut pills in half, all due to high costs

H.R. 987 packages together a group of bills into an omnibus that would lower the price of prescription drugs and reduce the Federal deficit in the following ways: Continue reading “Phillips Votes to Lower Prescription Drug Costs, Strengthen the Affordable Care Act”

Comprehensive Reform to Lower Prescription Drug Prices

Credit: Craig F. Walker, Getty, The Boston Globe

In recent months, the need to lower prescription drug costs has become increasingly apparent. Despite tough rhetoric from President Donald Trump, drug prices continue to soar under his administration. Last year, nearly 30 drug companies announced that price increases would take effect in January; Pfizer alone announced that it would raise the prices of 41 drugs. Critical medications, such as insulin and opioid addiction treatments, have already seen dramatic price hikes this year. These rising prices continue to take a toll on patients. In a 2018 poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 24 percent of respondents reported that they or a family member had not filled a prescription, cut pills in half, or skipped doses due to cost.

Americans are ready for change. In fact, in a recent poll by Harvard University and Politico, 80 percent of respondents said that they want Congress to act to lower prescription drug prices, ranking it as their top priority for 2019. Indeed, progress on this issue has already been made. The new House majority wasted no time to address high drug prices, quickly launching an investigation of price hikes under 12 key drug companies. Moreover, lawmakers have recently proposed a variety of reforms to tackle rising drug prices, for example, setting parameters for Medicare negotiation, increasing generic competition, and capping out-of-pocket costs.

Congress now faces the task of weaving together these various reforms into comprehensive legislation. This column outlines key principles for a comprehensive drug pricing legislation that would benefit all Americans.

View the complete January 29 article by Madeline Twomey on the Center for American Progress website here.

Can Trump claim credit for $26 billion in savings on prescription drugs?

The president claims his policies are working, pointing to a $26 billion decline in generic drug prices. But that’s not the whole story. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

“Drug prices declined in 2018, the first time in nearly half a century. During the first 19 months of my Administration, Americans saved $26 Billion on prescription drugs. Our policies to get cheaper generic drugs to market are working!”

— President Trump, in a tweet, Jan. 11, 2019

This is an interesting tweet by the president because it can be read two ways — either the sentences are distinct statements or they are intended to flow together to make one point.

The consumer price index for prescription drugs fell by 0.6 percent in 2018, the first time in 46 years and only the second time since the government began keeping track in 1970. Prices had risen nearly 3 percent in 2017 and 6.2 percent in 2016. (We will lay aside an academic debate about whether the CPI for prescription drugs actually measures changes with enough accuracy.)

View the complete January 16 article by Glenn Kessler on The Washington Post website here.

FACT CHECK: Trump Continues To Lie About Lowering Prescription Drug Prices

At his rally last night, Trump continued to lie about lowering prescription drug prices. The reality is that Trump has failed to deliver on his promises, and costs continue to skyrocket. It’s clear why a majority of Americans trust Democrats over Trump and Republicans to lower prescription drug costs.

LIE: Trump said his administration has taken bold action to reduce drug costs, and took credit for Pfizer cancelling price hikes.

Trump: “We have taken bold action to reduce the cost of prescription drugs. Drug prices are starting to come down. Drug companies, a number of months ago, were going to raise their prices. I actually called up the heads of Pfizer and Novartis and others. I said you can’t do that. You can’t raise your prices. And you know what they did? They brought them down, they didn’t raise them.”

Continue reading “FACT CHECK: Trump Continues To Lie About Lowering Prescription Drug Prices”

Trump Falsely Claims Credit For Lowering Drug Prices

Donald Trump has repeatedly falsely tried to claim credit for negotiating lower drug prices. Like Trump, none of the drug companies he has touted have taken any meaningful steps to actually lower prices. In fact, prescription drug prices continue to skyrocket.

Trump thanked Novartis, but the company only said that it would hold off on drug increases temporarily and did not commit to reducing costs.

CNN Money: “The Swiss company said Wednesday that it would not raise prices this year in the United States, days after its rival Pfizer came under pressure from Trump. ‘We thought the prudent thing to do was to pull back on any further price increases in 2018 and evaluate as the environment evolves,’ Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan told Bloomberg on Wednesday.”

Despite Trump trying to claim credit for Pfizer lowering costs, the company agreed to only postpone its latest round of drug price increases.

New York Times: “Pfizer, the giant multinational drug company, said on Tuesday that it would defer some price increases, after President Trump thrashed the company in a Twitter post.” Continue reading “Trump Falsely Claims Credit For Lowering Drug Prices”

Trump’s Plan On Prescription Drug Prices Looks Nothing Like What He Promised

The following article by Jonathan Cohn was posted on the Huffington Post website May 11, 2018:

So much for an all-out assault on Big Pharma.

Candidate Donald Trump promised Americans a war on the pharmaceutical industry. President Donald Trump isn’t going to give them one.

On Friday afternoon, the Department of Health and Human Services released a policy blueprint for helping Americans pay for prescription drugs that, with every passing year, get harder and harder to afford. Continue reading “Trump’s Plan On Prescription Drug Prices Looks Nothing Like What He Promised”