Trump's New Drug Proposal for Transparency in Rx Costs
The administration issued a proposed rule that we can all agree is a step in the right direction: all drugs covered by Medicare and Medicaid must list the COST for a typical course (typically a 30-day supply) of the medication. This applies to drugs that cost $35 or more.
All those annoying TV ads will now have to include a "legible textual statement" in the ad explaining the cost. Talk about transparency--!
This proposed rule only covers TV ads but is likely to be expanded to print and radio ads, too. “We will not wait for an industry with so many conflicting and perverse incentives to reform itself,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said, speaking at the National Academy of Medicine’s Annual President’s Forum last week.
Drug companies spend about $4 billion on TV ads annually
CMS reports that the drug ads we mostly commonly see on TV have a monthly list price range from $535 to $11,000 per month (or the usual course of therapy.)
This is another bold posture by the President. It stands to receive great push back and probably a legal challenge in the courts, but I am betting that doesn't happen as Big Pharma wants to court a better relationship with the administration. However, they might argue 1st Amendment rights.
But then again, any "proposal" prior to midterm elections may just be posturing and not something the administration really wants to dig in and win on.
I'm not taking that cynical route because the PhRMA's CEO said, "It was the right thing to do."
While this probably won't help make our jobs easier, all these little steps are going in the right direction. President Trump listed his "blueprint" to lower drug prices earlier this year and one thing we can all agree on is that Rx is skyrocketing, and we already have the highest drug prices in the world. Let's keep crawling towards a solution.
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