Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: Generic Drugs Are Too Expensive, Too
Stat: Online Pharmacies Could Save Medicare Billions On Generic Drugs
Public outcry about the shockingly high cost of brand-name drugs and a demand for new laws to rein in the cost of these medicines has persisted for years. But more than 90% of all prescriptions — almost 4 billion a year — are filled with generic drugs. Little attention has been paid to how much insurance companies, pharmacy benefit managers, and pharmacies charge to fill these generic prescriptions. Yet the difference between the highest and lowest price being charged for the same generic drug is so large that many billions of dollars could be saved each year by having prescriptions filled at the lowest-cost pharmacies. (Alfred Engelberg, 9/10)
The Hill: Washington Must Help Patients Choose, Not Dictate Their Care
Over a decade ago, I founded the Partnership to Improve Patient Care with a basic principle: Patients are best served when they are informed and empowered to decide which care options are best for them; they are poorly served when policymakers in Washington dictate which options are best. In 2010, I noted that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) “recognizes not only the importance of strong clinical evidence to support decision-making but also the need to use the research to support doctors’ and patients’ decisions, not to dictate what those decisions should be.” That principle is again under debate — and under threat — as Congress considers new government standards to regulate drug prices. I’m all for improving drug affordability, but it is vital to pursue solutions that reinforce this core principle of empowering patient choice, not undermining it. (Tony Coelho, 9/14)
NJ Star-Ledger: Medication And Health Care Are Expensive. But It Doesn’t Have To Be
Americans are struggling to afford the high cost of healthcare in this country. As many as 24% of New Jersey residents reported that they did not fill a prescription due to cost, and polling shows that 59% of New Jerseyans are concerned about the cost of prescription drugs. It doesn’t have to be like this. President Biden’s American Rescue Plan included the most significant expansion of healthcare in more than a decade, saving American families thousands in health care costs. As a result, 100,000 uninsured New Jerseyans are newly eligible for health coverage tax credits and 13,800 individuals have access to coverage with zero-dollar premiums. (Troy Singleton, 9/10)
Also —
The Hill: The Next Health Threat Is Here — Action Is Needed On Anti-Microbial Resistance
As an infectious diseases physician caring for patients hospitalized with COVID-19, I have seen how secondary infections that are resistant to antibiotics are impacting those patients and complicating our response to an already extremely complex pandemic. ... The antibiotic pipeline is not delivering the novel antibiotics patients need for highly resistant infections. In fact, most large pharmaceutical companies have turned away from antibiotic research and development, and the smaller firms attempting to innovate are struggling to remain in business. Antibiotics, which must be used judiciously to preserve their effectiveness and are typically prescribed for a short duration, are not a good return on investment, in strictly financial terms. In fact, antimicrobials are the only class of drug for which use in one person can contribute to drug resistance and decrease the drug’s efficacy in the rest of the population. (John B. Lynch, 9/10)
