Bill Would Prohibit ‘Gag Clauses’ That Prevent Pharmacists From Telling Patients Of Best Payment Method

Stat: Lawmakers Want To Remove Gag Clauses That Boost Drug Costs At The Pharmacy Counter
The next time you walk into your pharmacy, you may not get the best deal on your prescription, but don’t blame the pharmacist. Many allegedly have contracts with behind-the-scenes middlemen that contain “gag clauses” preventing them from telling you that paying cash for a prescription might cost less than your health insurance copayment. And pharmacists can face significant penalties if they disclose the difference. So now, a trio of senators has introduced a pair of bills — the Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act and the Know the Lowest Price Act — that would prohibit pharmacy benefit managers from using these gag clauses in order to pocket the difference. (Silverman, 3/15)

The Hill: Senators Target 'Gag Clauses' That Hide Potential Savings On Prescriptions 
The clauses, which keep pharmacies from proactively telling customers they could save money on a prescription if they paid out of pocket instead of through insurance, has sometimes been included in contracts between pharmacies, insurers and companies that manage drug benefits for employers called prescription benefit managers (PBMs). “Insurance is intended to save consumers money. Gag clauses in contracts that prohibit pharmacists from telling patients about the best prescription drug prices do the opposite,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said in a statement Thursday. (Hellmann, 3/15)

Stat: Senate Signals Interest In Changes To Drug Discount Program
Key Senate Republicans have signaled an increasing interest in making changes to the so-called 340B drug discount program, adding to a chorus of House Republicans who are pushing to overhaul the program. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee met Thursday to discuss the program with representatives of the hospitals who favor the program and the pharmaceutical companies who have long called for reining it in. The hearing was the first sign of serious Senate interest in the issue, and it follows a string of relatively heated meetings in the House Energy and Commerce Committee and a flurry of bill introductions on the topic from lawmakers in both chambers and both parties. (Mershon, 3/15)

Modern Healthcare: Senate Lays Groundwork For 340B Reporting Legislation 
In an often-contentious Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Commitee hearing Thursday, Chair Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) made it clear he wants to know where hospitals and clinics are applying the discounts they get from drugmakers, how much of the discounts go directly to patients and which kinds of programs the providers are funding for patients with the money that isn't directly passed on. "That could lead to question of whether we could restrict [where the money goes]," Alexander said. "But one way to avoid restrictions is to help us know better what the money is going for." (Luthi, 3/15)

Stat: Drug Makers Jostle Over Potential Medicare Changes In Congressional Spending Deal
Drug company lobbyists are pushing lawmakers to include in the forthcoming appropriations package two small changes to Medicare that could help them reap bigger profits from the federal program. Johnson & Johnson, Amgen, and Genentech, the makers of several of the most popular “biologic” drugs, are lobbying Republicans to add a provision that ensures that one Medicare program doesn’t pay more for newer “biosimilar” drugs than it does for their products, according to several congressional aides and lobbyists. (Mershon, 3/16)

And in other pharmaceutical news —

The Washington Post: House To Try Again On Bill Easing Use Of Unapproved Drugs
The House plans to try anew next week to approve a Republican bill making it simpler for fatally ill people to try unproven treatments. And this time, the measure seems certain to pass. Lawmakers voted for the legislation on Tuesday by a lopsided 259-140 vote. But it lost because GOP leaders had used a procedure, normally reserved for uncontroversial bills, that requires a two-thirds majority for passage. Tuesday’s vote fell just short of that. President Donald Trump backed the legislation and GOP lawmakers lined up behind it nearly unanimously, but Democrats opposed it by more than a 4-1 margin. (Fram, 3/15)

Bloomberg: Pfizer Lifts CEO's Pay 61% To $27.9 Million With Retention Bonus
Pfizer Inc. boosted Chief Executive Officer Ian Read’s compensation for 2017 to $27.9 million, a 61 percent increase, to ensure he stays on the job. Read’s pay included an $8 million special equity award that will vest if the drugmaker’s average stock return tops 25 percent for 30 consecutive trading days before the end of 2022, the company said Thursday in a filing. Read, who turns 65 in May, also must remain CEO through at least next March and not work for a competitor for a minimum of two years after that to be eligible. (Melin and Hopkins, 3/15)