Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
HHS Pushes Plan To Make Pharma Include Drug Prices In Ads, But Critics Still Skeptical It Would Benefit Patients
Stat: HHS Advances Proposal That Could Require Prices Be Included In Drug Ads
The Department of Health and Human Services is moving forward with a policy that could require drug companies to put the price of their medicine in advertisements. The White House Office of Management and Budget received a draft regulation from HHS this week titled “Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Regulation to Require Drug Pricing Transparency.” An HHS spokesperson declined to comment on what the regulation would do, but lobbyists told STAT that it relates to the policy of requiring drug price information in ads. (Swetlitz, 8/23)
Bloomberg: Trump's Plan On Drug-Pricing Transparency Takes Step Forward
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the industry trade association, said disclosing prices in ads won’t benefit consumers because they aren’t what patients will pay at the pharmacy. PhRMA also said the requirement could face legal issues, “including First Amendment concerns,” according to an emailed statement. Released in May, Trump’s blueprint states that HHS may make “Medicare and Medicaid prices more transparent, hold drugmakers accountable for their price increases, highlight drugs that have not taken price increases, and recognize when competition is working with an updated drug pricing dashboard.” The online dashboard provides Medicare and Medicaid spending data. (Edney, 8/23)
Stat: Senate Joins Push To Require Pharma To Include Prices In Ads And TV Commercials
The Senate voted Thursday to give the Department of Health and Human Services at least $1 million to issue regulations requiring that prescription drug advertisements include information about the price of the medicine. Senators agreed to attach the provision, sponsored by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), to a major spending bill, through a process reserved for noncontroversial items to which no lawmaker objects. The spending bill passed by a vote of 85-7. (Swetlitz, 8/23)
In other pharmaceutical news —
Reuters: Oklahoma Medicaid Tests New Tactic To Curb U.S. Drug Costs
A new front in the battle over the cost of expensive medicines in the United States is opening up in Oklahoma, the first state where the government's Medicaid program is negotiating contracts for prescription drugs based on how well they work. In June, Oklahoma received approval from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to factor how effective a prescription medicine is into the price it pays to the manufacturer. (Beasley, 8/23)
Stat: FDA Examining Whether Drug Ads 'Overwarn' Consumers About Side Effects
The Food and Drug Administration is preparing to launch a study of how well consumers understand the lengthy list of safety risks listed in drug advertisements — and whether there are so many warnings that their eyes glaze over. But the study, and related work at the FDA, have irked the drug industry and spurred critics of direct-to-consumer drug advertisements to argue the agency should be doing more. (Thielking, 8/24)
