STATEMENT: Patients Applaud Inclusion of the FAIR Drug Pricing Act in the Senate HELP Committee Package

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In response to today’s HELP Committee vote to include the FAIR Drug Pricing Act in the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019, Patients For Affordable Drugs Now Executive Director Ben Wakana issued the following statement:

“If drug corporations want to gouge patients, the public deserves to know exactly why. Accountability and transparency are the principles driving the FAIR Drug Pricing Act, a common sense, bipartisan reform.

“We thank Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray for leading a robust and productive debate on the Lower Health Care Costs Act. And we applaud Senators Baldwin, Braun, Smith, and Murkowski for their relentless efforts to shepherd this critical bill through the process. We hope this bill will be passed by the full Senate expeditiously.”

BACKGROUND

The FAIR Drug Pricing Act requires transparency from drug manufacturers that increase a drug price by more than 10 percent over 1 year or 25 percent over 3 years.

After a corresponding price hike, drug manufacturers must submit a report to the Department of Health and Human Services that includes:

• The percentage by which the drug price will be increased
• Justification for the price increase
• Current price of drug and a history of all price increases since the drug was approved by the FDA
• List of all manufacturer expenditures for:
  • Materials, manufacturing, and patents/licensing
  • Research and development
  • Percent of funds spent on research and development that came from federal coffers
  • Total revenue and net profit reaped from the drug’s sale for each year since its FDA approval
  • Total marketing and advertising costs for the drug

The bill is led by Senators Baldwin (D-WI), Braun (R-IN), Murkowski (R-AK), and Smith (D-MN).

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