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☆ Medicare's drug-price negotiations will save the government billions in healthcare spending — but patients may not feel the benefits
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Natalie Rahhal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Patients with private health insurance aren't likely to see a drop in costs from the negotiations. Longo said the price-setting provisions will drive research and investment away from treatment options for Medicare patients. If drug companies won't come to the negotiating table to lower drug prices paid by private insurers, those insurers could take the companies' drugs off their lists of covered medications. Or, if private insurance companies don't negotiate drug prices down for their patients, patients in some cases could seek out different insurance. "These are not full solutions, but they are the beginning of cracks in the facade" of drug companies' constant price hikes, Feldman said.

Persons: Biden, Juliette Cubanski, Jeffrey Davis, Davis, Richard Frank, —, Nicole Longo, Longo, it's, — aren't, Robin Feldman, Feldman, Cuban's Organizations: Medicare, Healthcare, Morning, Centers, Services, Congressional, McDermott, Consulting, Brookings Schaeffer Initiative, Health, Pharmaceutical Research, Manufacturers of America, PhRMA, University of California Law School, Costco, Pharmaceutical Locations: Lower

☆ Launch of arthritis drug biosimilars ramps up US pressure on pricing 'middlemen'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Patrick Wingrove | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Seven drugmakers this month launched their own versions, known as biosimilars, of AbbVie's (ABBV.N) flagship arthritis drug Humira, once the world's top-selling prescription medicine. Three have kept their list price within 5%-7% of AbbVie's, two priced at an 85% discount and two have offered both types of prices. For insured patients who are often on the hook for co-pays of 10% to 25% of the list price, the savings have been minimal. Reuters GraphicsThe Biden administration has made lowering drug prices a priority. Amgen offered 5% and 55% discounts to AbbVie's $6,922 per month Humira price tag, and both were included on drug coverage lists at two large PBMs.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Humira, Ameet Sarpatwari, Biden, PBMs, Cigna, UnitedHealth, Amgen, Robin Feldman, Ron Wyden, Wyden, Chuck Grassley, Grassley, Patrick Wingrove, Moira Warburton, Josephine Walker, Caroline Humer, Bill Berkrot Organizations: REUTERS, Association for Accessible Medicines, Harvard Medical School, Reuters, Lawmakers, Federal Trade Commission, FTC, CVS, Biosimilars, Healthcare, Novartis, Sandoz, Reuters Graphics Reuters, University California College of the, Democratic, Republican, Thomson Locations: U.S, Humira, San Francisco, New York, Washington

☆ Drugmakers aim to strike down Medicare drug-price negotiations at Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

And Bristol Myers Squibb is trying protect its blood thinner Eliquis, which brought in $11.8 billion in sales last year, or about 25% of the company's $46 billion total revenue for 2022. Long legal battle aheadMerck, the chamber and Bristol Myers Squibb filed their lawsuits ahead of two key deadlines. Bristol Myers Squibb did not either. If circuit court decisions on the matter contradict one another, the Supreme Court would step in to decide the issue, Bagby said. Bristol Myers Squibb made an identical argument in its complaint.

Persons: Richard A, Gonzalez, Pascal Soriot, Giovanni Caforio, Jennifer Taubert, Johnson, Kenneth C, Frazier, Albert Bourla, Olivier Brandicourt, Win Mcnamee, Drugmaker Merck, Drugmaker, Bristol Myers Squibb, PhRMA, Eli Lilly, Merck, Bristol Myers, Robin Feldman, Nicholas Bagley, Bagley, Gretchen Whitmer, Chris Meekins, Raymond James, Antonin Scalia, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, Meekins, Long, Xavier Becerra, Randolph Daniel Moss, Barack Obama, Judge Thomas M, Rose, George W, Bush, Kelly Bagby, Bagby, Amgen, Donald Trump, Karine Jean, Pierre, Biden, Jean, we'll, Becerra, Feldman Organizations: Senate, AbbVie Inc, AstraZeneca, Myers Squibb Co, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Johnson, Merck & Co, Inc, Pfizer, Sanofi, Getty, U.S . Chamber of Commerce, Bristol Myers Squibb, Washington , D.C, Southern, Southern District of, Democratic Party, U.S, Merck, Bristol, Pharmaceutical Research, Manufacturers of America, CNBC, Medicare, University of California College of, Justice Department, Michigan Gov, Bristol Myers, Human Services, Centers, Services, AARP Foundation, HHS, AARP, Specialty Pharmacy, Reuters, Supreme, Appeals, Democratic, U.S . Sixth, Republican, Third, White Locations: America, Washington , DC, Bristol, U.S, Washington ,, Southern District, Southern District of Ohio, New Jersey, Commerce's Dayton , Ohio, San Francisco

☆ Merck sues US government to halt Medicare drug price negotiation
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Michael Erman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK, June 6 (Reuters) - Merck & Co (MRK.N) sued the U.S. government on Tuesday, seeking to halt the Medicare drug price negotiation program contained in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which it argues is violates the Fifth and First Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The Biden administration's drug pricing reform aims to save $25 billion annually by 2031 through price negotiations for Medicare. Merck called the talks with CMS coercive and forces drugmakers to participate in "political Kabuki theater" by pretending negotiations are voluntary. The first ever Medicare drug price reduction process is due to begin in September when CMS identifies its 10 most costly drugs. Merck's top selling drug, cancer immunotherapy Keytruda, could be subject to negotiations as soon as 2028.

Persons: drugmakers, Merck, Ameet, Robin Feldman, Wells, Mohit Bansal, Xavier Becerra, Chiquita Brooks, Michael Erman, Patrick Wingrove, Edwina Gibbs, Nick Zieminski Organizations: YORK, Merck & Co, U.S, U.S . Constitution, Biden, Medicare, District of Columbia, Merck, Reuters, CMS, Harvard Medical School, UC College of the, Supreme, U.S . Department of Health & Human Services, Centers, Medicaid Services, LaSure, HHS, Thomson Locations: U.S ., U.S, San Francisco

A provision in the Inflation Reduction Act that allows Medicare to negotiate prices on the costliest prescription drugs each year will likely save the U.S. billions of dollars — as long as the drug industry doesn't interfere, according to a study published Friday in JAMA Health Forum. They identified 40 drugs that would have been selected by Medicare for drug pricing negotiation under the Inflation Reduction Act's provision. The researchers simulated negotiated prices by using a so-called ceiling price, which is at least 25% off the average price drug manufacturers charge to nongovernment entities, like private health insurance providers. The researchers found that the Medicare drug negotiation provision would have saved the U.S. $26.5 billion, or 5% of all drug spending, during those three years. It plans to release a list of the first 10 drugs it will target for drug pricing negotiation by September.

☆ The Inflation Reduction Act aims to lower drug costs — but here’s how Big Pharma could get around it
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Berkeley-Lovelace-Jr.Jpg | Berkeley Lovelace Jr. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

The Inflation Reduction Act is set to lower drug prices for millions of people in the United States — but experts fear pharmaceutical companies could exploit loopholes in the bill, ultimately keeping prescription costs high for many. The tactics may ultimately threaten the law’s ability to lower drug costs for consumers. Higher prices for new drugsOther experts are concerned about how companies might abuse the inflation rebate rule in the health law. The provision, which takes effect next year, imposes a rebate on drug manufacturers that raise the prices of their medications faster than inflation. By releasing new drugs at higher prices, drug companies will be able to make up for any lost revenue that they would normally receive from steadily raising prices each year, she said.

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