We’re launching drug pricing news into your orbit no matter the forecast! Welcome to the Week In Review.
1. Hold the Applause
A change to the payment model on out-of-pocket insulin costs for some Medicare beneficiaries President Trump announced this week fell far short of expectations. America needs more from its leaders to relieve the crushing financial burden born from rising prescription drug prices, and there are better solutions on the table that will help more Americans afford vital medicines. — (STAT)
2. We Deserve a Say
Tens of millions of public dollars bankrolled the creation of Gilead’s remdesivir, a potential COVID-19 blockbuster. Yet the Big Pharma behemoth retains total control on setting a price. It’s plain wrong, and the public deserves to have a say on this potential pandemic drug’s final price. — (The Washington Post)
3. Set up to Pay Twice
Pharma giant Merck announced Tuesday that the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority has promised $38 million toward the development of its COVID-19 vaccine. Once again, taxpayers are footing the bill for a vaccine without any guarantee that the final product will be affordable and accessible to everyone. — (FiercePharma)
4. “We must lift up our voices”
“The government’s unwillingness to take action on drug pricing has been the struggle of my life,” writes Clayton “DJ” Martin, who lives with sickle cell disease. “If Big Pharma is allowed to retain systemic control of the drug industry during this pandemic, it will not be just you or me that suffer the consequences, but the country as a whole.” We agree with Martin on the dire need for drug affordability during COVID-19 and always. — (The Orlando Sentinel)
5. Pharma Amps Up Drug Ad Spending in Midst of Pandemic
Sure, drugmakers could lower list prices as the country’s citizens reel from the economic impact of a once-in-a-lifetime public health crisis –– but instead, they’re taking advantage of a quarantined audience, pouring millions of dollars into TV ads in April alone. — (FiercePharma)
I live with high blood pressure as well as insulin-dependent diabetes. I am on Medicare and live off a fixed income. I am very money conscious, because I need to stretch out my budget in order to afford my medications, housing, food, and other necessities. Before I was eligible for Medicare, my insulin would have cost me $1,200 every three months. When I found out, I was stunned. I could not afford that. Fortunately, now that I am on Medicare, I am able to afford the copays for my insulin. However, with prices continuing to rise, I worry that I will be forced — again — to make the tough decision to go on the less safe insulin. Seniors like me should not have to decide between eating and taking their drugs.
I was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis as a newborn and have lived with this chronic illness my entire life. I deal with the financial and personal hardships as best as I can. My husband and I spend about half our monthly income on covering health care costs now, and I’m only going to need more medications as my cystic fibrosis progresses. When I once fell into the coverage gap, I had to pay $1,000 upfront for a necessary inhaled antibiotic, Colistin. $1,000 is an outrageous cost, and I know that if something happens to my coverage, I could suddenly be faced with this cost again.
My son Brody was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 5 years old. He’s now 10. One day, I received a phone call saying my son left his Humalog insulin at school. It was almost 5 p.m. and the school was closed. I immediately panicked. Brody needs his insulin, so I called our local pharmacy to try to get the dose we needed to get through the evening. I was shocked to find out that it would cost more than $300 for the emergency dose. I immediately started worrying about how I would pay for it. Would I need to pay on a credit card or get the insulin at an ER? No mother should have to worry about paying for her child’s necessary medication. There should be better options in place for families like mine. Insulin has been around for too long to be priced that high.
I am now retired, but I endured years of painful plaque psoriasis while I was in the workforce. When I was prescribed Humira, I quickly discovered that it was a “miracle drug” in treating my symptoms. It helped me treat the painful sores on my body that had plagued me for years. However, I have been forced to stop taking Humira after learning the treatment would cost me over $8,000 a year out-of-pocket. I don’t have too large of a savings account, and I live off of the fixed income provided to me by Social Security. I can’t afford to pay for Humira under any circumstances.
Nobody puts drug pricing in a corner. Welcome to the Week In Review!
1. Don’t Squander Public Goodwill
Pharma’s top brass have embarked on a feel-good press tour in an attempt to revive the industry’s heartless drug pricing image. Let’s remember what CEOs like J&J’s Alex Gorsky forget to mention: The large government contracts companies are receiving are a public investment. The people must have a say in the price of the drugs they bring to market. — (Kaiser Health News)
2. We’ll Have Lower Drug Prices, Fries, and a Coke
President Trump restated his interest in signing into law legislation to lower drug prices after Senator Chuck Grassley asked at a lunch Tuesday if the president still wants the Senate to put a drug pricing bill on his desk. We agree with Senator Grassley, who is lead sponsor of the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act, and President Trump — Congress must take up the charge and move to pass meaningful drug pricing legislation. It’s more critical now than ever. — (The Hill)
3. Taxpayers Up COVID-19 Ante
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is sending up to $1.2 billion in taxpayer funds to AstraZeneca to support development and production of a COVID-19 vaccine. Taxpayers are vital business partners in accelerating the development of drugs for the novel coronavirus. In return, we need transparency into AstraZeneca’s spending, pricing, and profits. — (Reuters)
4. We’ve Got it Backwards
Our drug pricing system is broken, with governments fueling and funding innovation and then relinquishing that knowledge and those funds to private hands behind closed doors. The system places profits and corporate intellectual property rights ahead of the public good and has left the world unprepared for this pandemic — or the next. — (STAT)
5. Affordability Always
We don’t even know if Moderna’s vaccine candidate prevents COVID-19 in humans, but analysts are already talking about how the company could hike vaccine prices after the current pandemic subsides. Wall Street shouldn’t determine the price of a drug taxpayers are paying to create, and high drug prices will hurt Americans pandemic or no pandemic. We’ll be watching. — (Barron’s)
WASHINGTON, DC — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now sent a letter to Capitol Hill this week urging Congress to focus on three topics in upcoming COVID-19 legislative packages: ensuring taxpayer investment into COVID-19 drugs is factored into prices, helping the nation prepare for future public health emergencies, and addressing the high list prices of prescription drugs as Americans struggle with the impact of the pandemic.
“COVID-19 did not make high drug prices go away — it worsened the crisis for patients,” the letter states. “Every dollar we pay in unjustified profits to drug corporations is a dollar we could use to support ordinary Americans whose health and economic well-being has been devastated by this pandemic. If we had unlimited resources as a nation, these choices wouldn’t matter. But we don’t.”
The letter, addressed to congressional leaders in the House and the Senate and signed by patients from all 50 states, calls for congressional action in three key areas:
Ensure taxpayers have a say in COVID-19 drug pricing. Since March, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has awarded more than $1.2 billion to the pharmaceutical industry for COVID-19 drugs — with no stipulations on fair pricing. As partners in the scientific and funding processes, American taxpayers deserve a say in the price.
Prioritize long-term incentives for infectious disease research over short-sighted giveaways to the drug industry. Pharma does not need new incentives to develop COVID-19 drugs. The federal government is bankrolling research, sponsoring clinical trials, and eliminating all liability for drug corporations investing in COVID-19 drugs, and the pandemic’s global impact guarantees billions of buyers. Instead, Congress should invest in and incentivize research to prevent and prepare for future infectious disease outbreaks.
Lower drug prices now. The COVID-19 pandemic has only worsened the drug pricing crisis in the United States. Alongside soaring unemployment numbers, 27 million Americans could lose employer-based health insurance, exposing many of them to high list prices. Congress must take long-awaited action on drug prices immediately.
Patients For Affordable Drugs Now is an independent, bipartisan patient organization focused on policies to lower drug prices. P4ADNow does not accept funding from any organizations that profit from the development or distribution of prescription drugs.
Take a break from baking sourdough, churning butter, and screaming into the void. Read the Week in Review in Drug Pricing!
1. On the Double:Give Taxpayers A Say
Taxpayers are mega-funders for Moderna’s research into a COVID-19 vaccine, one of the most promising options on the table. We applaud the investment in development, but taxpayers must have a final say in any resulting drug price. – (Patients For Affordable Drugs)
2. COVID-19 Did Not Make High Drug Prices Go Away
Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Mike Braun of Indiana point out that drug prices are still high, and COVID-19 will only make the problem worse for hard-working Americans. There is still time for Congress to act via the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act. — (The Washington Examiner)
3. We Shouldn’t Pay Twice
The House this week introduced a $3 trillion COVID-19 relief package. But lawmakers missed the mark on drug pricing reform when they appropriated billions more for drug development without including reasonable pricing guidelines. Congressional relief packages need stronger guardrails to protect taxpayers from pandemic profiteering. — (Bloomberg Law)
4. Transparency Triumphs in Minnesota!
On Tuesday, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed a bipartisan bill that requires pharmaceutical companies to report and explain significant drug price increases to the state or face a daily $10k fine. Patients applaud state legislators and the governor for fighting for all Minnesotans! — (Star Tribune)
5. Maryland Governor Bows to Big Pharma with Veto
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan vetoed a measure to provide funding for the state’s Prescription Drug Affordability Board, an entity lawmakers created in 2019 to assess drug price increases and make drug prices more affordable for state and local governments. We expect more from the governor and call on the state’s legislature to right his wrong at the first opportunity. — (Maryland Matters)
