MFN Architect Chris Klomp to Testify
CMS Medicare director Chris Klomp will face back-to-back Senate confirmation hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday next week for the Deputy HHS Secretary role. Klomp is recognized as one of the primary architects behind the slate of MFN drugmaker deals introduced in the past year, and Klomp’s hearings will offer lawmakers a rare opportunity to press for further details on the deals. At present their terms remain largely confidential, several are structured to expire after just three years, and key products have reportedly been excluded altogether. Lasting savings require transparency and enforceability — and American patients struggling to afford their medications need Congress to deliver on both fronts. — [POLITICO, The Hill, Washington Post, Inside Health Policy]
INSULIN Act Introduced in House
Last week saw the introduction of the INSULIN Act by a bipartisan group of House lawmakers, legislation that would expand Medicare’s $35 monthly out-of-pocket cap on insulin to private and employer insurance plans. The bill is a companion to the Senate version that left committee earlier this summer, and while the House text doesn’t contain the same patent competition language as the Senate bill, similar provisions have already advanced out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Medicare’s $35 insulin cap has been delivering hundreds of dollars in savings each month for seniors since it went into effect in 2023, and while out-of-pocket caps don’t address the root cause of high list prices — the role of the pharmaceutical industry in setting prices — the continued growth in bipartisan support for out-of-pocket caps is a step that will benefit patients struggling with high insulin costs. — [POLITICO, Washington Post]
New Survey: Pharma Execs Game the System Against Reform
A new survey of 175 executives across 67 pharmaceutical companies found industry executives describing the current wave of drug pricing and market access changes as unlike anything they’ve experienced in decades. In particular, pharma executives revealed their attempts to rethink strategy and adjust to Medicare negotiation and most-favored-nation policies. It’s a telling admission from the industry: while drugmakers publicly warn that pricing reforms threaten innovation, the same executives are openly strategizing around how to preserve pricing power and shift costs by gaming the system — all at the expense of patients. — [Fierce Pharma]
ICYMI: In case you missed it last week, Patients For Affordable Drugs, We Are Más, and Brown University’s Information Futures Lab released The Price Patients Pay, a new report detailing how unaffordable prescription drugs shape the health, finances, and daily lives of Hispanic and Latino families. Drawing on five weeks of interviews and community discussions — most conducted in Spanish — the report documents patients rationing medication, taking on debt, and traveling abroad to afford the prescriptions they need, and offers recommendations for policymakers, providers, and advocates working to fix it. You can read the full report in English here, and in Spanish here.