...
By David Merritt
Senior Vice President, External Affairs, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Most Americans aren’t familiar with the prescription drug supply chain, but they are familiar with the high costs of medications when they fill a prescription. As Congress examines how medicines move from manufacturer to patients, the questions to explore should be simple: How do we lower launch prices and curb unjustified increases? And how do we increase market competition so we can lower premiums and out-of-pocket costs for patients?
Health insurance providers are one of the only checks on drug pricing today, and securing fair prices and more predictable costs for families is a top priority for Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans. Premiums aren’t rising because insurers are squeezing consumers, they’re rising because the price of medical care continues to accelerate. When new drugs come to market with ever-higher launch and list prices, those costs ripple through premiums and out-of-pocket bills. Policymakers, and those of us negotiating on behalf of patients, must stay focused on delivering better health at a price people can afford.
...
Read More on Opinion
This issue is top of mind for voters nationwide: nine in ten U.S. voters are concerned about the cost of prescription drugs, and 69 percent rank medication prices among the biggest worries for American patients. These costs are unaffordable because manufacturers set prices far too high, raise them repeatedly and keep them high by blocking more affordable options from ever reaching patients.
That’s why we continue to fight for lower costs in everything we do. BCBSA and several Blue Plans created CivicaScript to bring affordable versions of commonly prescribed but highly priced generic medicines to the market, increasing competition. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst found that CivicaScript’s generic prostate cancer drug saved patients nearly $1,000 a year. Earlier this year, Civica Foundation began to offer affordable insulin pens with the lowest list price in the current long-acting insulin market—capped at $55 per box of five pens for consumers, compared to $150–$500 per box. These are real-world examples of competition lowering costs for patients.
Policymakers have acted, too. Congress took an important step in the recent budget agreement by passing the Increasing Transparency in Generic Drug Applications Act, a bipartisan and market-based win that will help speed the approval pathway for generics.
President Donald Trump’s leadership to launch TrumpRx earlier this month underscores the urgency of lowering drug prices for struggling American families. This will be a huge benefit for millions of Americans who do not have access to insurance coverage. We also strongly supported the administration’s first step advancing site neutral reform when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services lowered out-of-pocket costs for patients receiving physician-administered drugs.
This is the kind of practical policymaking that delivers meaningful relief.
There’s more Congress can do right now to expand competition and address the root causes of rising costs. There is bipartisan legislation already on the table—from cracking down on patent thickets to ending pay-for delay schemes—that would give patients more choices at lower costs.
By acting on these targeted, bipartisan proposals, lawmakers can deliver meaningful relief to Americans who are tired of paying more every year for the same medicines. As the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health convenes to examine drug pricing, we hope these solutions are at the heart of the discussion.
David Merritt is senior vice president of external affairs at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines