Don’t Hate The Player, Hate The Game: Pharma To Point Fingers At Broken Rebate System During Congressional Grilling
The Senate Finance Committee is hauling pharmaceutical executives to testify today in a hearing likened to the Big Tobacco and Big Banks reckonings of years past. The drug companies are expected to blame pharmacy benefits managers and the rebate system that they say rewards companies for jacking up list prices and then offering deep discounts.
The Washington Post:
Drug Industry Defense For High Prices: Blame Insurance Companies
A line of defense is emerging for top prescription drug companies whose top executives will be pulled before Congress Tuesday to testify about high prices for medicine: They are not to blame. It’s a corporate version of a “devil made me do it’’ argument. The industry contends it is trapped in a reimbursement system that has become badly distorted, one that rewards companies for jacking up list prices and then offering deep discounts, in the form of rebates, to win favorable treatment by insurance plans. (Rowland, 2/25)
The Wall Street Journal:
Pharmaceutical Industry CEOs Face Senate Hearing On Drug Prices
Members of the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa), are expected to question the executives on their pricing practices and how the companies can reduce costs for patients, according to people familiar with the matter. They are also likely to face questions about their strategies to fight off cheaper generic alternatives, according to the people. The hearing could inform bipartisan legislation this year to target high drug prices. Sen. Grassley and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) have introduced bills to legalize personal importation of lower-priced medicines from Canada, and to curtail patent-infringement-litigation settlements in which makers of brand-name drugs pay generic manufacturers to delay competition. (Hopkins and Loftus, 2/25)
Kaiser Health News:
Congress Squares Off With Pharma CEOs In Showdown Over High Drug Prices
The Senate Finance Committee will host executives from Pfizer, Merck, AbbVie and other drugmakers. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman, said he hopes the hearing will pull back the curtain on how drugmakers set prices — and how they justify the culture of secrecy surrounding those decisions. Skeptics are quick to note that the pharmaceutical industry is among Congress’ most generous benefactors. In 2017 and 2018, members of the Senate Finance Committee received more than $2 million from political action committees associated with pharmaceutical companies, including the companies they’re hearing from Tuesday, according to a Kaiser Health News analysis. (Huetteman and Hancock, 2/26)
Reuters:
Pharma Stocks Could See Turbulence From U.S. Senate Drug-Price Hearing
U.S. healthcare stocks could face more turbulence on Tuesday, after a bumpy early 2019, as top executives from some of the largest pharmaceutical companies are expected to get grilled in the U.S. Senate on the high cost of prescription drugs. The Senate Finance Committee hearing on drug pricing is likely to turn up the volume on the debate over healthcare costs, an issue looming as a potential negative for the sector's performance in the coming months. (Krauskopf, 2/25)
Reuters:
Factbox: Pharma Company Executives To Testify At U.S. Senate Drug Price Hearing
Executives from seven of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies are set to testify about high U.S. prescription drug prices at a U.S. Senate hearing on Tuesday, amid an intensifying focus on the industry's practices by both political parties. Lowering drug prices and healthcare costs for U.S. consumers has been a key focus of President Donald Trump, and rival Democrats are stepping up congressional scrutiny of drug price hikes after gaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives. (2/25)
In other news on drug prices —
CQ:
Bipartisan Drug Price Bill Gets Support From Top Drugmaker
The leader of at least one major drugmaker is expected to announce to lawmakers Tuesday that the company will back a bipartisan bill, which the industry historically opposed, that would deter a stalling tactic that delays generic competition. The endorsement from drugmaker Sanofi could be a boon for the bill (S 340), which has come close to being law several times but has been stymied by the drug industry’s appeals to congressional leaders. The support comes with caveats, though. (Siddons, 2/25)
