Welcome to the Week in Review.

Growing Momentum Around International Reference Pricing

Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Peter Welch (D-VT) unveiled a bipartisan bill that would bar drug companies from charging Americans more than the international average price for a specific prescription drug, adding to growing momentum around international reference pricing. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is considering a separate proposal that would tie Medicaid drug payments to foreign prices as part of broader budget reconciliation legislation, with new reports that Trump is expected to sign an executive order pursuing the initiative as soon as Monday. P4AD supports the principle that Americans shouldn’t be paying up to eight times more than patients in other countries, and we’re encouraged to see bipartisan efforts to lower drug prices through mechanisms such as international reference pricing. These proposals have the potential to deliver real relief for patients, but ultimately, the devil will be in the details. We’ll be watching closely to ensure any final plan truly lowers prices without restricting access here or abroad. — [POLITICO, Stat News, Axios, Endpoints News, Bloomberg, POLITICO]

P4AD Holds Community Town Hall

On Tuesday, we hosted a live Town Hall to answer questions from our community and shared the latest in our fight to stop pharma, its lobbyists, and allies from rolling back the progress we’ve made to lower drug prices. We covered everything from the threats to Medicare negotiation, to the potential harm of tariffs, to recent competition bills progressing through Congress, to efforts to reform the PBM system. Thank you to our community members who joined us live and to those of you who wrote to us with close to 600 questions! If you missed it, check out the video here!

Drug Spending Hits Record High As Patients Struggle to Afford Medications

According to Axios’ coverage of a new IQVIA report, Americans’ out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs has surged 25% over the last five years, reaching a historic high of $98 billion last year. Even though total net medicine spending rose 11.4% last year, hitting a massive $487 billion, more than one-quarter of new prescriptions went unfilled — largely because they aren’t covered by insurance. It’s no surprise that nearly 90% of voters, including 89% of Trump voters, say prescription drug prices are too high, with nearly 60% of Americans reporting struggling to afford their medications in the last 12 months. Americans – who pay between four and eight times more than people in other wealthy countries – are urgently demanding that the White House and Congress do more to address this crisis of high drug prices. — [Axios, Arnold Ventures]

ICYMI

In a powerful report for ProPublica, David Armstrong reflects on the cancer drug Revlimid — the same drug that helped treat his own multiple myeloma — and the industry tactics that kept its price high for years. The piece, which includes reflections from P4AD’s David Mitchell, who is also a multiple myeloma patient, captures both the human stakes and the corporate strategies that put profit above patients.

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