Posted by Michael Wonder on 12 Mar 2019
International Pricing Index: outsourcing negotiations will continue the US drug cost crisis
11 March 2019 - “The government pays whatever price the drug companies set without any negotiation whatsoever,” remarked President Donald Trump.
This is a common misconception because Medicare does not directly negotiate prices but, nonetheless, raises an important issue regarding how pharmaceutical drug prices are set in the United States. These prices have increased to unfathomable levels in recent years, threatening the finances and health of millions of Americans, as well as the stability of Medicare and the US health care system at large. Public outrage has provoked the Trump administration to combat this crisis by setting Medicare Part B drug prices to an international pricing index.
Despite its promises, this proposal fails to target the majority of Medicare’s drug expenditures, undermines Medicare’s dominant position in the global pharmaceutical market, and forgoes paying for drugs based on value.
