MESSAGE
| DATE | 2020-11-20 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] drug prices and medical economics
|
*** In Europe, governments control drug prices in a variety of ways. In
some cases, a country’s national health service buys drugs and sets a
price that manufacturers must meet to sell their product. U.S. prices
are set on the open market and through negotiation by insurers and
hospitals.***
NEVER. There is ZERO open market for drugs. Negotion with inusrers is
no different or better than socilized medicine, and they take kick backs
and distort the real market.
wsj.com
WSJ News Exclusive | Trump Administration to Release New Rules Reducing
Drug Costs
Stephanie Armour
5-7 minutes
The Trump administration is planning on Friday to roll out two final
rules aimed at lowering drug prices—one curbing rebates paid to
middlemen in Medicare and another pegging the prices of certain
prescription drugs in the U.S. to their prices in other developed
countries, according to a person familiar with the planning.
The plans, slated to be announced in the White House Rose Garden, have
been a signature pledge of President Trump’s since his 2016 election
campaign. Both rules are expected to be final, meaning they have
completed the required public comment period and can take effect
immediately.
Drugmakers, pharmacy-benefit managers, and others in the pharmaceutical
industry had lobbied over the two rules. Drugmakers had hoped to stop
the first-ever price controls linked to prices charged in other nations.
Pharmacy-benefit managers, which serve as third parties that manage
benefits for Medicare as well as Medicaid managed care, fought to curb
rebates that are worked out between themselves and drugmakers.
The government has said it seeks to redirect those discounts toward
patients.
Ending the rebates would save the drug companies billions of dollars
they pay to the middlemen in Medicare, the federal health-insurance
program for seniors and the disabled. An earlier version of the rule was
withdrawn in 2019 because some White House advisers raised concerns
about actuarial reports showing it could increase Medicare premiums.
Mr. Trump in July signed an executive order that revived the rule and
added a requirement that it not raise premiums or increase federal
spending. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar is expected to
include a letter with the rule stating that it won’t increase premiums,
according to the person familiar with the plans.
An analysis of the earlier drug rebate rule by the Congressional Budget
Office indicated it would boost federal spending by $177 billion and
raise Medicare part D premiums between 2020 and 2029. Medicare Part D is
the prescription drug benefit for the health program covering people age
65 and older.
Under the current system, pharmacy-benefit managers negotiate
confidential rebates and discounts on many branded prescription drugs.
Those deals aren’t always passed along to customers at pharmacies.
Drugmakers have sought to stop paying the rebates, but pharmacy-benefit
managers, including Cigna Corp.’s Express Scripts, CVS Health Corp.’s
Caremark and UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s OptumRx, have opposed the rule
because they retain some of the rebates.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services didn’t
immediately respond to a request for comment on the rules.
The rule pegging certain prescription drug prices to prices in other
countries, also known as most-favored nation drug pricing, is expected
to be announced as an interim final rule, which means it wouldn’t
undergo additional public comment before going into effect immediately.
The rule aims to strong-arm pharmaceutical companies to lower prices for
some of the highest-cost drugs in Medicare.
A spokeswoman for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of
America, or PhRMA, said the rule would “allow foreign governments to
arbitrarily decide what medicines are worth in the United States and
what diseases are worth investing in.”
The federal government is expected to change how it pays for some drugs
in Medicare Part B, which includes drugs administered by health
providers, and Part D, by tying them to the prices in other developed
countries, which are often lower than prices in the U.S.
In Europe, governments control drug prices in a variety of ways. In some
cases, a country’s national health service buys drugs and sets a price
that manufacturers must meet to sell their product. U.S. prices are set
on the open market and through negotiation by insurers and hospitals.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly pledged to move forward with the idea, signing
an executive order mandating it in September after first proposing the
price control in 2018, but industry watchers said they were unsure if
the proposal would proceed after the election.
Some health-policy leaders expect the rule could face legal opposition.
They have said it would deprive them of money they use for innovation
and research and could stifle the development of new therapies and
treatments.
The changes under the rule are likely to be driven through pilot
programs operated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
One-fourth of adults taking prescription medications said it is
difficult to afford their drugs, according to a March 2019 poll by the
Kaiser Family Foundation.
Some congressional Republicans have opposed the rule on the grounds that
it could stifle development. Some Democrats have backed it, saying it
would lower costs.
The future of the rules once President-elect Joe Biden takes office is
uncertain. Mr. Biden has called for a system or federal group to
evaluate fair prices for drugs and called for limits on the prices of
newly launched drugs.
Write to Stephanie Armour at stephanie.armour-at-wsj.com
--
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that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological
proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
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Being so tracked is for FARM ANIMALS and extermination camps,
but incompatible with living as a free human being. -RI Safir 2013
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