Round 3 Medicare Negotiation Period Ends Sunday
The third round of Medicare drug price negotiations will end on November 1, with CMS expected to announce lower negotiated prices for the 15 selected drugs in the coming weeks. Four years after the program was established as part of the IRA, the results demonstrate the power of leveraging Medicare’s purchasing power to secure a better deal for patients. A new study found that patients on Medicare Part D are projected to save an average of $685 per year, while Medicare Advantage beneficiaries could save $470 because of just the first round of negotiation. And while Medicare negotiation was a historic step toward reining in the pharmaceutical industry’s pricing power, there is significant room to expand its reach. Polling shows strong public support for going further: 86% of voters support allowing Medicare to negotiate prices for all drugs. With strong support across party lines, policymakers have a responsibility to address the current affordability crisis and an opportunity to build on Medicare negotiations’ success, expanding it to more drugs. — [Vanderbilt Health News, Pharma Lawsuits, Arnold Ventures]
5 Days Out: Healthcare & Prescription Costs Drive Voters
Five days before the midterms, healthcare costs remain a major part of voters’ broad affordability concerns, and polling throughout the year shows these concerns are expected to shape voters’ decisions at the ballot box next week. With one in three Americans struggling to afford their prescriptions, lowering drug prices must be a part of any serious effort to tackle the cost of living. — [STAT News]
- An October POLITICO poll found that 34% of voters say healthcare costs are a primary issue driving their midterm vote, second only to the 45% who cite broader concerns about affordability and the economy.
- KFF also found this month that 60% of voters are worried about affording healthcare, while 82% say it’s extremely or very important for candidates to talk about healthcare costs.
- The concern has persisted throughout the year. This summer, Axios-Ipsos found that Americans were more likely to support candidates who backed policies to lower healthcare costs, including prescription drug affordability measures. That same week, POLITICO found that more than half of voters had taken steps over the previous year to manage rising healthcare costs.
Cell & Gene Therapy Model Expands Beyond Sickle Cell Treatments
CMS announced this week that it will broaden the agency’s Cell and Gene Therapy Access Model beyond Genetix Biotherapeutics and Vertex’s sickle cell disease therapies — inviting manufacturers of other cell and gene therapies to apply. The Cell and Gene Therapy Access Model takes aim at that affordability challenge by pooling state Medicaid programs to boost their negotiating leverage, an approach that has already reduced administrative burdens when used for sickle cell therapies. But stronger negotiating leverage only goes so far when manufacturer participation remains voluntary, leaving the model’s ultimate reach and impact dependent on drugmakers’ willingness to participate. Given that the majority of patients with Sickle Cell Disease in the U.S. are enrolled in Medicaid programs, ensuring access through this payer is especially important.— [HHS, Pink Sheet, BioSpace]
ICYMI: Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) is requesting an independent analysis of TrumpRx savings. In a letter this week, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked the Government Accountability Office to examine the White House claim that the platform has saved $700 million since its February launch. The administration has yet to substantiate that figure, and with key terms of the MFN agreements behind TrumpRx still undisclosed, there’s currently no way to independently assess how much patients are actually saving. — [Rep. Pallone, STAT News]