Welcome to the Week in Review.
“It’s a relief I never thought I’d have”
On Thursday the Centers For Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published the first-ever, lower negotiated prices for all 10 high-cost drugs selected for the inaugural round of Medicare negotiation as part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). These lower negotiated prices, which take effect in 2026, come after six months of back-and-forth between CMS and drug manufacturers and promise substantial price reductions ranging from 38 to 79 percent for roughly nine million patients who take these medications. Medicare negotiation drove down prices by more than 75 percent for diabetes medications Januvia and Fiasp/NovoLog insulins, promising hundreds of dollars of monthly savings, and significantly reduced the high-priced irritable bowel drug Stelara, which had a 2023 list price of $13,836, by more than 65 percent. These lower prices are expected to save patients $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket in 2026 when they come into effect, and taxpayers will save an estimated $6 billion. Medicare negotiation will mean more breathing room for patients like Judy Aiken, a retired nurse who lives with psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis and relies on Enbrel. Judy had the opportunity to share her story directly with President Biden this week as well as introduce him and Vice President Harris at an event in Maryland focused on the new lowered costs. “A lower negotiated price for Enbrel and the nine other medications will lift the financial burden off the shoulders of seniors like me. It’s a relief I never thought I’d have,” Judy shared in her remarks. After decades of advocacy, Medicare can now leverage its negotiating authority to tackle inflated prices of drugs used to treat conditions like cancer, diabetes, heart failure, and chronic conditions – proving that change is possible when patients demand it. — (Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services, NPR, Axios, The New York Times, Newsweek)
Patients Celebrate The IRA During Second Anniversary
Throughout the week, P4AD patient advocates and allies shared how over the last two years the drug price reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act have begun to tackle high prescription drug costs. On Tuesday, Bob Parant, who has lived with type 1 diabetes for over 50 years, and Steven Hadfield, a patient living with type 2 diabetes, participated in a White House panel about the impact of the $35 monthly insulin copay cap. On Wednesday, Kaye Peterson, a retired librarian from KY, who has lived with type 1 diabetes for over 40 years, and Judy Aiken, who suffers from psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis, took part in a celebratory patient community call hosted by P4AD Founder David Mitchell and AARP, with Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra participating as a special guest. On the call, Secretary Becerra said that patients can “blow out the candles” to commemorate their tireless advocacy in achieving the reforms in the IRA. Earlier that day, Jackie Trapp, a former educator from Muskego, WI, participated in a press call alongside Senator Amy Klobuchar, P4AD Executive Director Merith Basey, and Accountable.US Executive Director Tony Carrk to discuss the new, lower negotiated prices under Medicare. Jackie takes Xarelto which had a 2023 list price of $517 but after negotiation will be priced at $197 in 2026 — a 62 percent price reduction. Patients fought hard to usher in this new era of lower drug prices through the reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act and as we celebrate this momentous anniversary, we recognize that while significant progress has been made, our work continues to expand these reforms so that every patient can have access to the drugs they need at prices they can afford. — (Salon, NBC Nightly News)
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Welcome to the Week in Review.
The Inflation Reduction Act Turns Two
The Inflation Reduction Act’s second anniversary marks a major milestone in the drug pricing landscape. For decades, skyrocketing drug prices have forced patients on Medicare to choose between medication and other necessities. Now, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, patients on Medicare are beginning to breathe easier. The $35 insulin copay cap, which went into effect in 2023, isn’t just a number – it represents peace of mind for patients like Steven Hadfield and Bob Parant, who have seen their monthly costs plummet from hundreds to just $35. Free recommended vaccines and the cap on out-of-pocket costs at around $3,500 annually are also delivering substantial relief to seniors like Judy Aiken and Ginny Boynton, who both have faced thousands of dollars in annual out-of-pocket costs for their medicines. And even more change is now on the horizon as the $2,000 annual cap on out-of-pocket costs is due to take effect in 2025 and the lower prices for the first ten negotiated drugs will come into effect in 2026. The announcement of the maximum fair prices for the first 10 drugs selected for price negotiation is due in the coming days and will potentially save nearly nine million people as much as thousands of dollars per month on just one prescription alone. These drugs — including cancer treatments, blood thinners, autoimmune disease treatments, and some diabetes drugs — accounted for $3.4 billion in out-of-pocket costs for patients on Medicare in 2022. The Inflation Reduction Act is a monumental step toward a future where every American can get the prescription drugs they need at prices they can afford and an important milestone to celebrate and to build on. — (USC, AARP, CAP, The White House
Court Watch: US v. Pharma
On Thursday, a federal judge in Ohio dismissed a legal challenge brought by the national U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a few regional Chambers of Commerce to stop successful implementation of Medicare negotiations. Judge Michael J. Newman stated that the case was thrown out because the lawsuit was filed in an improper venue, slamming the Chamber for “venue shopping” for a potentially friendly court, and found that other plaintiffs in the case lacked standing. This dismissal marked the seventh consecutive loss for the pharmaceutical industry and its allies who filed lawsuits in various district courts as part of an “industry wide strategy” to escalate these cases to the Supreme Court. P4AD’s David Mitchell, who takes Eliquis, one of the first 10 drugs selected for negotiation, set the record straight: “It’s US vs. Pharma and we are winning because the drug companies’ claims thus far have been found to lack merit on both substance and procedure. As they appeal, we will continue to fight.” — (Bloomberg Law, Politico, STAT, Reuters, P4AD)
Big Pharma Patent Gaming
Patients in the U.S. face exorbitant prices for blockbuster diabetes and weight loss drugs — like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro — meanwhile residents in comparable nations see list prices that are significantly lower for these same medications. The reason? Barriers to both drug price negotiation and generic competition. While most high-income countries have a variety of mechanisms to negotiate lower drug costs, residents in the U.S. face substantially higher list prices in large part because pharmaceutical corporations have rigged the system in their favor. Drugmakers exploit our patent system as part of their business model to extend monopoly periods including on GLP-1 treatments. By filing frivolous patents, including on the delivery mechanisms used to inject these drugs, they can help delay generic competition. These anti-competitive tactics, employed by drugmakers including Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, mirror the patent strategy used by the very same companies to extend monopoly periods on blockbuster insulin drugs. “Just thinking about how long those companies have kept patent protection for insulin, I would imagine they have pretty substantial legal effort going into preventing generic entry for those drugs,” Professor Stacie Dusetzina told Axios when discussing the lack of competition for this emerging class of drugs. As long as these shady practices that block competition are permitted by law, patients will continue to be forced to pay some of the highest drug prices in the world for brand-name drugs. — (KFF, Inside Health Policy, STAT, Axios)
Welcome to the Week in Review.
Court Watch: US V. Pharma
A federal judge in New Jersey ruled against Novo Nordisk on Wednesday, rejecting all of the company’s arguments in its lawsuit aimed at stopping the historic Medicare negotiation program. Judge Zahid Quraishi observed that the constitutional challenges were “nearly identical” to arguments made in separate lawsuits by Bristol Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson — which he rejected in April. The court ruled against additional claims made by Novo Nordisk that Medicare negotiation violates the due process clause and separation of powers. Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drugs — Fiasp, Fiasp FlexTouch, Fiasp PenFill, NovoLog, NovoLog FlexPen, and NovoLog PenFill — are among the first 10 drugs selected for negotiation. This ruling marked the sixth consecutive loss in the pharmaceutical industry’s multi-million dollar legal campaign to stop the successful implementation of Medicare negotiation. However, the fight doesn’t stop here: several drugmakers are filing their appeals to recent rulings against their lawsuits to stop negotiations and the decisions in lawsuits brought by Merck and Novartis are still pending. To counter the drug industry’s relentless attacks on Medicare negotiation, P4AD, Public Citizen, Social Security Works, and Health Care Voices among others have now mobilized over 180,000 signatures for a petition demanding drug company executives urgently drop their lawsuits that directly oppose the interests of patients and taxpayers. — (Bloomberg Law, Endpoints, Inside Health Policy)
End Of Medicare Negotiation For First 10 Drugs
In a watershed moment for patients, negotiations between the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and drug manufacturers who make the first 10 drugs selected for Medicare negotiation ended yesterday, August 1st. The new negotiated maximum fair prices are set to be announced by September 1st. The drug manufacturers received initial price offers from CMS in February this year, and since then, all have participated in the negotiation process, which involved multiple rounds of offers and counteroffers. However, while drug industry executives are now telling investors that the impact of lower negotiated prices will not significantly hurt their bottom line, seven of the manufacturers are suing to stop Medicare negotiation, claiming the program will stifle innovation. A recent analysis from Bentley University found that, despite pharma’s fear mongering around the drug price law, it will have little to no impact on the number of new drug approvals and research and development (R&D) funding. Patients played a critical role in the passage of the landmark drug pricing law that authorized Medicare’s ability to negotiate lower drug prices and eagerly await potential savings of up to thousands of dollars per medication when negotiated prices take effect in 2026. — (The Hill, Medical Xpress, Fierce Biotech, The Nevadan)
In Case You Missed It
A national poll conducted by Lake Research Partners found overwhelming bipartisan support for pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reforms. Eight in 10 voters support policies that would prevent PBMs from making profits based on drug prices in Medicare and over eight in 10 support ensuring that available rebates and other discounts are passed along to help seniors better afford their medicines. Reining in the shady practices of PBMs remains a top priority for P4AD and we’ll keep fighting to ensure they are operating in the best interest of patients and consumers.
Welcome to the Week in Review.
PBM Showdown In The House
The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability continued its 32-month investigation into pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) with a hearing scrutinizing the middlemen’s shady practices that drive up prescription drug costs. Executives from the three largest PBMs which control 80 percent of the U.S. prescription drug market — OptumRx, ExpressScripts, and CVS Caremark — testified before legislators on the outsized role of PBMs and their anti-competitive tactics which steer patients toward their own pharmacies and prioritize higher-priced medicines. The opaque structure and secretive rebate contracts result in significant profits at the expense of patients in the U.S. who pay three to eight times more for brand-name drugs than residents in comparable nations. Prior to the hearing, the Committee released a staff report, based on over 140,000 pages of internal documents from the companies. They found more than 300 examples of the big three PBMs preferring medications that on average cost at least $500 more per claim than the lower-cost alternative medication they excluded on their formularies. With bipartisan PBM reform bills having cleared key congressional hurdles, the pressure is mounting to rein in these shadowy middlemen and deliver new savings to patients drowning in prescription costs. — (NBC News, The Wall Street Journal, House Oversight Committee, HealthCare Dive)
Drugs Corporations Rake In Profits
While patients struggle with soaring drug prices, the pharmaceutical industry continues to demonstrate robust financial health, as evidenced by the latest quarterly earnings reports. In Q2 of 2024, AstraZeneca reaped nearly $2 billion in profits, while Bristol Myers Squibb earned $1.68 billion, Novartis reported $3.25 billion, and Johnson & Johnson brought in $4.69 billion in profits respectively. All of these corporations have at least one of the drugs they manufacture selected for Medicare negotiation – a program they’re fighting tooth and nail to derail – even though the companies’ executives maintain that the program will have minimal impact on their bottom lines. We expect reports from Merck and Novo Nordisk in the coming weeks — the latter riding high on its wildly popular and overpriced diabetes and weight loss drugs. One thing is crystal clear: Big Pharma’s profit machine shows no signs of slowing and there is urgent need for the ongoing implementation of the drug price reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act to better insulate patients from drug industry greed.
Court Watch: US V. Pharma
Last week, the pharmaceutical industry’s fight to stop Medicare negotiation intensified as special interest groups filed over a dozen amicus briefs in support of lawsuits from AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Johnson & Johnson. Over the last six years alone these special interest groups — including the Washington Legal Foundation, Manhattan Institute, Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), and Alliance for Aging Research — have received nearly $4.8 million from the industry’s top trade association, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), which also filed a suit against the Medicare negotiation program. But while pharma is paying for expensive lawyers, patients are fighting back. Since the lawsuits were filed last year P4AD has signed onto seven amicus briefs led by Public Citizen and supported by AARP, Protect Our Care, Doctors for America, and Families USA, and continue to rally 10s of thousands of patients and allies via a petition urging pharmaceutical CEO’s to drop their lawsuits against the historic Medicare negotiation program. We continue to amplify patient voices in the courtroom to ensure the harm of sky-high drug prices is upfront and center inside and outside the courtroom. — (Accountable.US, FightPharma.org, Public Citizen)
In Case You Missed It
Gilead Sciences is facing backlash over its highly-effective HIV prevention drug, lenacapavir. Patient advocates rallied outside of the 25th International AIDS Conference in Munich this week to demand an end to Gilead’s pricing monopoly. The company’s life-saving HIV drug is priced at $42,250 per year, despite reports that the medicine could be produced for as little as $40 per person each year. Advocates are calling for global action to make this life-saving drug accessible to everyone who needs it.
Welcome to the Week in Review.
Drugmaker’s Mid-Year Money Grab
Between June 30th and July 5th, drug companies hiked the prices of 195 prescription drugs, with 50 percent of those increases exceeding the rate of inflation. According to our own analysis, prices raised on cancer drugs outpaced increases across other classes of medications, accounting for 22 percent of all increases. Examples of other price hikes include:Revlimid, a drug that treats multiple myeloma, had a price increase of $5,832, being hiked from $83,322 to $89,155 for a supply of 100 pills. MACI, a cell therapy that treats knee pain, saw an increase of $4,494 per treatment.“Pharma corporations have been getting away with these price hikes for the last two decades, so they’re continuing what they’ve always done: To try to maximize the price the public will pay,” P4AD’s Merith Basey told MM+M. Historically, drug companies hiked prices on essential medicines with impunity, forcing patients to pay three to eight times what other countries pay for the same brand-name drugs. The Inflation Reduction Act now offers some protections from Big Pharma price gouging for patients on Medicare as the law requires drug companies to pay rebates if they raise prices higher than the rate of inflation, potentially saving patients up to thousands of dollars per medication. Additionally, the Congressional Budget Office projects the provision will reduce the federal deficit by $63.2 billion over 10 years (2022-2031). We will continue to share our analysis of July price hikes and trends in the coming weeks. Watch this space for updates. — (MM+M, Inside Health Policy, The Hill, Commonwealth Fund, KFF)
Debunking Pharma’s Dual Narrative
On a quarterly earnings call this week, a Johnson & Johnson (J&J) executive shared that the final price offers received for J&J’s drugs being negotiated under the new Medicare negotiation program — Xarelto, Stelara, and Imbruvica — wouldn’t hurt the company’s sales projections through 2030. Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan echoed a similar message to investors yesterday, sharing that a lower negotiated price for its heart failure drug, Entresto, “might be manageable” for the company. In February, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot described the ongoing negotiation process as “relatively encouraging” and in April, Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) CEO Chris Boerner stated that the company can “more than compensate” for the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act. Meanwhile, all the aforementioned companies are suing to block implementation of the Medicare negotiation program. Over the last week, J&J, BMS, and AstraZeneca, all filed opening briefs with the U.S. Court of Appeals, challenging the rejections of their cases to stop the program. While these drugmakers continue to wield their massive financial resources to undermine the program in the courts , propagating fear about its supposed harm on innovation, industry executives are simultaneously assuring investors that lower negotiated prices will have minimal impact on their bottom line. — (Endpoints, Fierce Pharma, Endpoints, BioPharma Dive, Bloomberg Law, Fightpharma.org)
In Case You Missed It
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are intensifying their investigations into the predatory practices of the drug industry and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). On Tuesday, Senate aides met with Novo Nordisk executives to discuss the company’s discontinuation of one of their long-acting insulin products, Levemir. Last year, Novo Nordisk announced price reductions on some of its older insulins, but before the price cuts were even able to take effect, the company announced it would be withdrawing Levemir from the market by the end of 2024. This decision sparked outrage among patients who depend on this widely-used, essential medicine and are now forced to find costly alternatives for their treatment. Next Tuesday, July 23rd, executives from three large PBMs — CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and OptumRx — will testify before the House Oversight Committee at a hearing titled “The Role of Pharmacy Benefit Managers in Prescription Drug Markets Part III: Transparency and Accountability.”
Welcome to the Week in Review.
Bipartisan Patent Thicket Legislation Unanimously Clears The Senate
Marking an important victory for patients, yesterday the Senate unanimously passed the Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act of 2023 (S. 150), a bipartisan bill aimed at curbing the drug industry’s use of patent thickets to extend monopolies, limit competition, and keep drug prices high. The bill, championed by Senators Cornyn and Blumenthal, addresses Big Pharma’s exploitation of the patent system by restricting the number of patents that can be asserted on biologic medicines. A 2023 report by Matrix Global Advisors found that patent thickets on just five drugs — Humira, Imbruvica, Eylea, Enbrel, and Opdivo — delayed competition and cost patients more than $16 billion. Yesterday’s win would not have been possible without patients, their families and allies. P4ADNow’s year-long campaign, launched in July 2023, resulted in over 27,000 letters and over 30,000 calls from patient advocates into Congressional offices who mobilized en masse to ensure the Senate’s passage of S.150 and who are continuing to work to secure the passage of other bipartisan bills to increase competition and make medicines more affordable. “Accessing the medications that I need, at the quantities that I need them, could become easier and more affordable if more competition was allowed to enter the market,” shared Jacquie Persson, a patient advocate from Waterloo, Iowa who struggles to afford the medication she needs to manage her Crohn’s disease. P4ADNow is calling for swift action from the House to continue this momentum and ensure S. 150 becomes law soon as possible to begin to deliver relief to Americans of all ages. — (P4ADNow, Inside Health Policy, First Word Pharma, Endpoints, pharmaphorum, Coalition For Affordable Prescription Drugs, Patientspushforcompetition.org)
FTC’s Scathing Report On PBMs
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a 71-page bipartisan interim report following its two year investigation into the opaque practices of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). Findings from the report confirmed what patients long suspected: the highly consolidated PBM industry, intertwined with insurance companies and pharmacies, wields outsized influence over drug accessibility and pricing. The report reveals how PBMs’ secretive agreements with drug manufacturers incentivize higher list prices and restrict access to cheaper generics and biosimilars. With the three most dominant PBMs – CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and OptumRx – processing 80 percent of prescriptions filled in the U.S., the FTC is poised to take legal action against the companies for their anti-competitive practices. The scrutiny on PBMs will continue to intensify later this month as executives from the big three will testify before the House Oversight Committee on July 23. Reform of the PBM industry remains a top priority for P4AD and we will continue to press for a system that prioritizes patients. — (FTC, Scripps News, P4ADNow, New York Times, Forbes, Pharmaphorum, Healthcare Finance News, Axios)
Fact V. Pharma Fear Mongering
The Inflation Reduction Act maintains key incentives for research and development of small molecule drugs, despite fear mongering from pharmaceutical industry representatives. It was reported this week that Eli Lilly is acquiring Morphic Holding, a biotech company with a small molecule drug in Phase II trials, proving yet again the industry’s continued appetite for small-molecule drugs. In the nine months following the law’s passage, there was a surge in acquisitions of small molecule drugs compared to the preceding period and industry experts are projecting nearly 8 percent annual growth in global sales of small molecule drugs from 2022-2031, demonstrating continued confidence in the value proposition of this class of drug. — (STAT, Fierce Pharma, Endpoints, Brookings Institution, Precedence Research)
In Case You Missed It
Between June 30th and July 5th, pharmaceutical companies raised prices on 195 drugs – 50 percent of which were raised higher than the rate of inflation. Watch this space as P4AD dives deeper into the drug industry’s egregious price hikes and trends throughout the month.
Welcome to the Week in Review.
Court Watch: Patients Score Fifth Legal Victory
A federal judge in Connecticut dealt a fifth consecutive blow to the pharmaceutical industry’s legal campaign to halt the Medicare negotiation program. Chief Judge Michael P. Shea ruled against Boehringer Ingelheim on Wednesday, rejecting the company’s claims and emphasizing the voluntary nature of drugmakers’ participation and their ability to remain profitable even with lower prices. Jardiance, Boehringer’s blockbuster diabetes and heart failure drug, is among the first 10 drugs selected for Medicare negotiation, and in 2023, the company raked in $8 billion in sales from Jardiance alone. A lower negotiated price for Jardiance could yield hundreds of dollars in monthly savings for patients like Joy in Michigan, who is forced to go without the drug because of its price. — (FightPharma.org, pharmaphorum, First Word Pharma, Boehringer Ingelheim)
Zeroing In On Patent Abuses
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched an investigation last week into Teva Pharmaceuticals over the company’s failure to remove dozens of “junk” patents on its inhalers. This probe is part of a broader and ongoing effort to end drug corporations’ exploitation of the patent system. Companies are accused of making minor tweaks to their medications for the purpose of keeping patents active and prolonging monopoly pricing power. The investigation follows the FTC’s November 2023 probe into several drug manufacturers’ improperly listed patents on medications that treat conditions like asthma, COPD, and diabetes. FTC Chair Lina Khan and Senator Dick Durbin criticized these patent abuses in an op-ed in STAT News this week and highlighted several bipartisan bills currently in Congress, backed by P4ADNOW, to address anti-competitive practices like pay-for-delay and patent thickets. These reforms recently gained renewed momentum as the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) rescoredthreebills included in this bipartisan package, projecting significantly higher savings and bolstering the case for their passage. — (The Washington Post, FTC, STAT News, PatientsPushForCompetition.org, Axios)
Expansion of Medicare Negotiation
Renewed calls to expand Medicare negotiation made headlines this week as President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders announced their shared aspirations to expand the program’s ability to negotiate drug prices directly with pharmaceutical companies. The new proposal aims to increase the number of drugs eligible for negotiation to 50 drugs per year, potentially including popular GLP-1s like Wegovy and Ozempic, and would be transformational in the continued fight for lower drug prices. These proposals would build upon hard-won victories for patients and could lead to billions in additional savings for both patients and taxpayers. — (Washington Examiner, Fierce Pharma, USA Today)
Eli Lilly’s Pricey Alzheimer’s Treatment
The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of Kisunla this week – one of only two drugs currently approved to treat Alzheimer’s disease – offers potential hope to patients affected by this devastating illness. Its launch price however is raising concerns over access. Eli Lilly priced the treatment at $32,000 per year — higher than Leqembi, the only other drug to treat the disease which costs $26,500 annually after Aduhelm was removed from the market this year. With an estimated 6.7 million people aged 65 or older living with Alzheimer’s disease, this price would place an impossible financial strain on Medicare. — (NBC, KFF, NIH)
In Case You Missed It
This week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched MedicamentosBajoPrecio.gov, a Spanish-language version of their Lowerdrugcosts.gov resource that breaks down the drug price reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act.
Welcome to the Week in Review.
Inflation Penalties Drive Patient Savings
Great news for Medicare as the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) announced that the Inflation Rebate Program in the Inflation Reduction Act is already yielding significant benefits for some patients. Several drug companies that excessively hiked prices on 64 Part B medications will be required to pay rebates to Medicare, potentially benefitting more than 750,000 people who take these medications. From July 1 – September 30, 2024, these drugs will have lowered coinsurance rates, and during this time period patients could see savings of up to $4,593 per day. For instance, a patient taking Padcev, a bladder cancer drug, could save as much as $1,181 since the drug’s price increased faster than the rate of inflation every quarter since the program went into effect in 2023. The Medicare inflation rebate program aims to prevent arbitrary price increases on essential medications and protect patients from exploitative pricing tactics. — (HHS, Fierce Health Care, CNBC
TIME Magazine Highlights P4AD Patients Advocates
Yesterday, TIME ran an article showcasing the daily struggles and resilience of patients facing exorbitant medication costs – featuring the stories of several P4AD patient advocates. Jackie Trapp and Janet Karrigan, both battling multiple myeloma, Melissa Tavares, advocating for her daughter’s epilepsy medication, Bob Parant, managing diabetes and heart failure, and Jacquie Persson,navigating Crohn’s disease and migraines, all shared the strategies they are forced to employ to manage their drug costs. Fortunately, for patients on Medicare like Bob and Janet, there is already some relief from the new drug law, including a cap on out-of-pocket spending, a $35 monthly cap for insulin, and free vaccines. “The savings for patients is going to be life-changing,” Merith Basey, executive director of P4AD shared with TIME. Further, Medicare is currently negotiating with drug companies to lower prices on the first 10 of an eventual 60 medications. These patient stories are at the heart of what we do every day and serve as an important reminder of why we must continue to push for additional reforms to lower drug prices, including tackling pharmaceutical industry patent abuses and addressing exorbitant launch prices. – (TIME, FightPharma.org)
Digital Day of Action: Defending Medicare Negotiation
P4AD and allies hosted a panel discussion this week featuring experts and patient advocates focused on ongoing advocacy efforts to ensure the Medicare negotiation program is successfully implemented despite pharmaceutical industry lawsuits. Zachary Baron, director of the Health Policy and the Law Initiative at the O’Neill Institute, highlighted pharma’s fierce opposition to the new program and the encouraging trend of federal judges ruling in favor of patients. P4AD’s Director of Advocacy and Organizing, Temi Amoye, discussed our US v. Pharma campaign and how we’re mobilizing patients against Big Pharma’s efforts. The panel was moderated by Laura Packard of Health Care Voices and featured P4AD patient advocates Emmabella Rudd and Kaye Peterson, who shared their experiences with high drug prices and the anticipated relief for patients from Medicare negotiation. Their heartfelt stories underscored the importance of preserving this critical program and how motivated patients are to fight back against efforts to undermine it. Watch the discussion here. – (Facebook, O’Neill Institute, FightPharma.org, P4AD, P4AD)
In Case You Missed It
According to GoodRx’s tracker, prescription medication costs in the U.S. have surged 37 percent since 2014, outpacing inflation and raising out-of-pocket expenses for consumers. According to the same data, so far in 2024, consumers have spent $21 million out-of-pocket on prescription drugs.