In the February/March 2018 issue of Neurology Now, we explain why prescription drugs are so staggeringly expensive and what patients and doctors can do about it. In this online extra, we look at six pieces of legislation Congress has proposed to address these sky-high prices.
1. The Fair Accountability and Innovative Research (FAIR) Drug Pricing Act of 2017 (S 1131/HR 2439)requires manufacturers of certain drugs to report price hikes that result in a 10 percent or more increase in the cost of a drug over a 12-month period, or a 25 percent or more increase over 36 months, to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Drugs for rare conditions are exempted, however.
2. The Stop Price Gouging Act (HR 2974/S 1369) imposes an excise tax on prescription drugs that have been subject to a price spike.
3. The Empowering Medicare Seniors to Negotiate Drug Prices Act of 2017 (S 1688) proposes to allow the HHS secretary to negotiate fair prescription drug prices in Medicare Part D.
4. The Stopping the Pharmaceutical Industry from Keeping Drugs Expensive (SPIKE) Act of 2017 (S 1348)requires drug manufacturers to justify unnecessary price increases publicly.
5. The Creating Transparency to Have Drug Rebates Unlocked (C-THRU) Act of 2017 (S 637) requires pharmacy benefit managers to disclose data to the public regarding rebates and discounts and their impact on Medicare Part D beneficiaries and the Part D program overall.
6. An untitled bill, S 1681/HR 3536, requires people who conduct federally funded research and development of drugs to agree to reasonable pricing arrangements with the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Many states are tackling this topic, as well. In California, for example, Governor Jerry Brown signed a law in October that requires biopharmaceutical companies to alert state agencies and health insurers 60 days before implementing a price increase of more than 16 percent over a two-year period. By 2019, they must also justify why.