The midterm elections in the United States disappointed pharmaceutical companies, why?
2022.11.18 14:35
The midterm elections in the United States disappointed pharmaceutical companies, why?
Budrigannews.com – Republican strategists, policy experts and pharmaceutical executives say the divided U.S. congress after the 11th midterm elections will weaken pharmaceutical companies who want to weaken new laws that allow the government to negotiate drug prices.
Democratic President Joe Biden’s signature inflation Reduction Act, passed in August by Democrats against the pharmaceutical industry and Republican opposition, allows the government’s Medicare health program for people over the age of 65 and people with disabilities to directly negotiate the price of some drugs starting in 2026.
According to Reuters, the industry was hoping that the Republican-controlled Congress could change some provisions of the law and be confident that the president would sign them.
Now, since May 1, when Democrats control the Senate and Republicans control the House, the pharmaceutical industry is regrouping for 2023 around a short list of provisions they say are most problematic, and turning to other priority areas, sources and experts say.
Republicans to “Chip Away” at Drug Pricing Law
Pharmaceutical companies have launched new drugs at record prices this year, underscoring their pricing power even after Congress moved to cut $500 billion a year in U.S. prescription drugs, according to a Reuters analysis.
The law allows the government to select 50 drugs to negotiate out of the 10 most expensive drugs for Medicare.
Some experts say it is very unlikely that the Biden administration will change the signature law. Biden vowed the path of his campaign to oppose any attempt by Republicans to weaken it.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Even so, Republicans “chip away” at the provisions of drug price negotiations and their implementation, says Joel White, founder and President of Horizon Government Affairs.
White, a Republican strategist and former Congressional staffer who specializes in health policy, said, “There are things that Republicans think could be changed by the law.”
It is consistent with the industry approach.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, three pharmaceutical executives said they would lobby both Democrats and Republicans to extend the negotiating exemption period for conventional prescription drugs from nine years to 13 years after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval. This would be in line with complex biological drugs made from living cells.
Also, some of their top executives argue that every time a company proves that a drug works for an additional illness and is approved by a regulatory agency, a reset of the negotiating exemption period, or they argue that companies and shareholders lose their financial incentives without such changes.
The industry believes that the best approach for bipartisan support is to tie an extended request to their work on finding cancer treatment, even if it’s an uphill battle, which will coincide with Biden’s “cancer moonshot” initiative, which will cut cancer death rates by half over the next 25 years.
Brian Newell, a spokeswoman for Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), a powerful industry body, said: “We are committed to making meaningful changes that will correct flaws in the law and reduce out-of-pocket costs for patients.
Biden is unlikely to weaken the achievements in his signatory countries, said Larry Levitt, Executive Vice President for Health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation.
“We can certainly imagine Republicans pushing for tweaks that would weaken drug price negotiations, but it’s hard to see President Biden go along with that,” said Levitt, a senior Clinton administration official.
Even Republican support for drug pricing provisions is not guaranteed because it is popular with voters across the political spectrum, he said.
“All Republicans voted against the drug price negotiations, but they must tread carefully in any effort to weaken it.”””
