Maine Lawmakers Are Throwing Everything They’ve Got At High Drug Prices. But The Question Remains: Will It Work?

Stateline: This State Has A Bundle Of Ideas To Lower Drug Prices 
For Big Pharma, a lion’s den might seem more hospitable than the Maine legislature this year. The animus begins at the top, in the office of Senate President Troy Jackson, a fifth-generation logger from Aroostook County on the Canadian border. Jackson isn’t shy about much, and that includes his feelings about drug companies and the prices they charge his Maine constituents. Drugmakers have been gouging “people since Christ,” Jackson, a Democrat, said — using a more colorful verb — during an interview last month. He openly refers to the drug industry as “the anti-Christ.” (Ollove, 5/7)

Stat: Pharma Companies Court Pro-Business Democrats
Facing hostility from nearly every corner of Capitol Hill, drug makers have spent recent weeks aggressively courting a group of business-friendly Democrats. PhRMA and BIO, the two major drug industry trade groups, met last week with the New Democrat Coalition, according to multiple Democratic aides. The group, which includes more than 100 members and describes itself as politically moderate and “pro-growth,” has also scheduled meetings with the drug companies Pfizer and Genentech, as well as the California Life Sciences Association (CSLA), which represents drug makers including AbbVie and Allergan. (Facher and Florko, 5/8)

Stat: Should U.S. Peg Medicare Drug Prices To What Other Countries Pay?
If the U.S. wants a better deal on some medicines, the federal government could try pegging prices to what is paid by Japan, the U.K., and the Canadian province of Ontario. Why? A new study finds that prices paid for 79 different brand-name prescription drugs averaged 3.2 to 4.1 times higher in the U.S. and that if Medicare Part D had used the same pricing as in those other locations, the federal health care program could have saved nearly $73 billion last year. The analysis also found that the longer a drug was on the market, the larger the difference in pricing grew. (Silverman, 5/7)

Marketplace: The Messaging War Over Drug Prices
On top of the ad campaign, AARP spent more than $8 million lobbying Congress last year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the industry’s main lobbying group, spent nearly $28 million. The multibillion-dollar industry, which according to PhRMA employs more than 800,000 people, has a lot on the line in any potential legislation and is grappling with an image problem. (Adams, 5/1)

Modern Healthcare: Premier Selling Specialty Pharmacy Business To CVS Health
Premier announced Tuesday it is bowing out of the increasingly challenging specialty pharmacy market, a move that drew praise from analysts. The Charlotte, N.C.-based healthcare improvement company plans to sell its specialty pharmacy business, which currently serves 367 hospitals across 66 health systems, to a CVS Health subsidiary for $22.5 million plus up to $20 million for inventory. The companies expect to close the deal by June 30. (Bannow, 5/7)

The Hill: Trump Directs Health Chief To Work On Allowing Florida To Import Cheaper Drugs
President Trump has directed his health chief to work on a proposal for Florida to import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada, and signaled his desire to approve the plan, according to a GOP lawmaker from the state. Trump met with officials including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) at the White House on Monday to discuss the governor’s proposal to lower drug prices by importing cheaper drugs from Canada. (Sullivan, 5/7)

FierceHealthcare: More Than 500 Drugs Saw Price Hikes In The First Quarter, Study Shows
More than 500 drugs saw price hikes at the beginning of 2019, including price increases of nearly 3% prices for generics, according to a new report. Researchers at GoodRx, an app and website that tracks drug pricing and offers coupons, found a 2.9% price hike across brand-name and generic drugs in the first quarter of 2019. Most of that was reported in the first week of January, when drugmakers often raise their prices, according to the report. (Minemyer, 5/3)

Reuters: Mylan Gives No Clear View On Strategic Options, Shares Plunge 17 Percent
Drugmaker Mylan NV on Tuesday reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue and failed to provide greater clarity on a potential revamp of the company's strategy, sending its shares down 17 percent to a more than six-and-a-half year low. The company in August announced that its board had launched a strategic review, citing tough pricing environment for generics and said last quarter that the review was nearing completion. (Joseph and B, 5/7)

Reuters: In Canada, A Little-Known Drug Regulator Shows Its Teeth
A tiny, little-known government agency is ramping up regulation of Canada's pharmaceutical industry, seeking to rein in prices for patented drugs that are among the highest in the world, according to industry sources and a Reuters analysis of government data. The federal Patented Medicine Prices Review Board is targeting an increasing number of expensive drugs, including a rare-disease medication made by Horizon Pharma that can cost $253,409 a year, documents reviewed by Reuters shows. (Martell and Mehler Paperny, 5/8)

Stat: Out-Of-Pocket Costs For MS Medicines Have Skyrocketed
Amid rising prices for multiple sclerosis medicines, a new study finds that out-of-pocket costs rose substantially in recent years, especially for people with high-deductible plans. And the findings add to growing concerns of the effects of increased spending on patients. Specifically, multiple sclerosis patients paid $15 a month average out-of-pocket costs in 2004, but that jumped to an average of $309 a month by 2016, a 20-fold increase over a 12-year period. Meanwhile, patients with a high-deductible plan paid an average of $661 per month compared to $246 a month for those not in a high-deductible plan two years ago, according to the study published in Neurology. (Silverman, 5/2)

Politico Pro: Poll: Swing Districts Support Bold Drug Pricing Moves
Voters in three swing congressional districts back big upheavals in the regulation of prescription drug costs regardless of political affiliation, new polling data released today and provided first to POLITICO shows. The polls reinforce previous research showing that drug pricing is a top-tier issue for Americans of all stripes. (Karlin-Smith, 5/1)

Axios: How Medicare Could Have Saved $80 Billion A Year On Prescription Drugs
Medicare could have saved almost $80 billion, just in 2018, by matching the U.K.'s prices for prescription drugs that don't have any competition, according to a new study released in Health Affairs yesterday. (Owens, 5/7)

Politifact and Kaiser Health News: The Money And Politics Of Prescription Drugs: What You Need To Know
If there’s one area of health care where Republicans and Democrats might strike a deal, it’s prescription drugs. President Donald Trump has floated a plan to cut drug prices. Democratic and Republican ideas abound in Congress, where lawmakers have put more than 40 bills on the table. In 2018, 39 states passed 94 laws targeting pricing and costs. Florida’s House recently approved a move backed by the state’s Republican governor to allow imports from Canada. So far, Vermont is the only state to take that step. (Greenberg, 5/8)