“For at least 30 percent of Part B spending, Medicare prices are at least half of the market, meaning there is effectively no competition within that substantial federal spending among competing products,” said John O’Brien, the senior adviser on drug pricing at the Department of Health and Human Services.
What was said
“This model will expand patient access, through lower prices. This is a pro-patient-access model. We are going to lower drug prices substantially, for our most costly drugs, without restrictions on patient access.”
This lacks evidence.
Under Mr. Trump’s proposal, Medicare payment for physician-administered drugs would be based, in part, on prices in other countries, including some that restrict access to drugs by limiting coverage.
The administration assumes that Medicare can pay lower prices without limiting access. This assumption is based on a belief that drug manufacturers could not walk away from the Medicare market because it is so large, with 55 million people in Part B.
Moreover, Medicare officials say they would monitor the use of prescription drugs to ensure that beneficiaries’ access to medicines is not compromised. Even with the pricing index, they say, Medicare would still be paying more than the average of other countries.
But some advocates for patients are apprehensive.
“We share the administration’s goal of reducing prescription drug costs,” said Christopher W. Hansen, the president of the advocacy arm of the American Cancer Society, but the proposal “raises numerous questions about beneficiary access.”
“For instance,” Mr. Hansen said, “how would patients access necessary care if there are no vendors willing to bring drugs to physicians in their area? What if the drug maker decides not to sell a particular drug at the price required under the proposal, and patients are unable to get the Medicare-covered drugs they need to treat their disease?”
Dr. Debra Patt, a breast cancer specialist at Texas Oncology, a group of more than 400 doctors, asked: “What leverage would a vendor have to bring manufacturers to the table? Suppose a manufacturer is selling drug X for $1,000, and the vendor wants to pay only $750. What if the manufacturer says no? What then happens to Medicare beneficiaries?”
from Just News Update https://ift.tt/2UPZtSL
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