Posted by Michael Wonder on 30 Jul 2016
Critics target institute that evaluates price, value of drugs
28 July 2016 - Federal regulators this spring boosted the profile of a once-small academic institute that compares the value and price of prescription drugs, and now the group is coming under attack from pharmaceutical companies and allied patient groups.
The pharmaceutical companies are threatened by a potential drop in payments for their drugs by the federal government, and the patient groups — often subsidized in large part by drug companies — say they're worried life-saving drugs may get delayed or rationed.
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) focuses on the value and price of prescription drugs to determine which carry the most benefits for their list price, which its supporters say is overdue.
The cost of Medicare's catastrophic prescription coverage increased 85% from $27.7 billion in 2013 to $51.3 billion in 2015, according to a new report by Medicare's Office of the Actuary. Two drugs for hepatitis C infection sold by Gilead Sciences accounted for almost $7.5 billion of 2015 catastrophic drug costs.
