CLOSE MENUAlong with Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY), the Congressmen are among the centrist Democrats who blocked the House Democratic leadership’s Medicare negotiation bill from moving out of committee votes to the House floor. Their own bill intends to lower costs for seniors by creating an out-of-pocket cap, smoothing costs over the plan year, updating the Part D structure, allowing for limited negotiation in Part B, and passing PBM rebate savings along to patients’ cost-sharing. To read the press release, click here.
The bill, introduced in June, aims to expand the nonprofit drug manufacturer market in the US to lower costs for patients. In addition to creating guidance for the IRS to classify qualified pharmaceutical companies as nonprofits, the bill will also create new loans and authorize a cooperative funding program. To read the full article, click here.
The interactive map breaks down voter support of Medicare negotiation and tying prices to an international pricing index, as well as feelings towards claims such as how negotiation could impact innovation. The map represents a nationally representative survey of 4,222 voters. Overall, the survey found that nearly 9 in 10 voters support Medicare negotiation and only 12% of voters believe pharma’s claim that negotiation would harm innovation. To review all of the polling data, click here.
The researchers found that while biosimilars entered the market at prices comparable to the originators, overtime they decreased Medicare spending. Specifically, they calculated the annual savings for infliximab (7% savings), filgrastim (13% savings), pegfilgrastim (1% savings), and epoetin alfa (13% savings). Declines in total originator spending were driven by volume, as well as pricing and market share trends. While initial decline in spending is modest, the researchers concluded that the Medicare spending declines continue to grow over time with biosimilar competition. To read the full study, click here.
Rachel Sachs and Mariana Socal participated in a University of Pennsylvania Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics webinar. The webinar, Drug Pricing: Policy and Politics, focused on the current policy options and the roles of the government and markets to make prescription drugs more affordable. To read more about the webinar, click here.
