Free Newsletter
Congress wants GAO to probe drug prices
Free newsletter via e-mail
Tools
That AARP drug-price study didn't just inspire House lawmakers to stand firm on their healthcare reform bill, it's also touched off calls for a Government Accountability Office investigation.
Four House Democrats and one senator wrote the GAO, asking the nonpartisan watchdog to probe pharma's recent pricing practices. Citing the New York Times story about the AARP price study, the letter implies that drugmakers are hiking prices now to combat cost-control measures imposed by healthcare reform. "Any price gouging is unacceptable, but anticipatory price gouging is especially offensive," they wrote. They also want GAO to come up with a plan for monitoring drug pricing.
The letter notes that previous GAO investigations found that drug prices grew faster during years "just prior to passage of major legislation extending coverage for prescription drugs," namely the Medicare Part D drug benefit. In the year before that measure passed, prices for a basket of branded meds grew by 7 percent, compared with about 4 percent during each of the previous two years.
Meanwhile, the Energy & Commerce committee put out a press release touting the House version of healthcare reform, particularly the measures that drugmakers like least: Medicare price negotiations, Part D rebates on drugs for patients who qualify for Medicaid and Medicare (a.k.a. dual-eligibles) and pricing transparency. Stay tuned; the GAO letters asks for a report double-quick.
- read the letter to GAO
- see the House release
- check out the story in the New York Times
Related Articles:
Is pharma hiking prices to recoup on reform?
Drug-price outcry threatens to derail reform
Drugmakers vow battle against House bill
PhRMA to guard price negotiation vow
Comments
By Retired drug co employee | Posted 2:32pm | November 19, 2009
Big pharma has consistently reaped enormous profits claiming them to be essential for new drug R&D at high failure rates that to date had shown little impact on improving success rates. It's high time our greedy pharma robber barons are held to ethical pricing standards best achieved by imposing COLA to link drug prices to Social Security benefits, the primary source of drug revenue.
By mymoney2 | Posted 5:50pm | November 19, 2009
Better yet...don't buy the drugs if you don't like the price. What about government "price" (tax) increases and raising taxes all over in a time when the economy is down....sounds a lot like about the same practice to me. And Social Security sounds like a Madeoff plan.
Post new comment
Paid Research Reports
- Stakeholder Opinions: Vaccines in Emerging Markets (Asia) - Opportunities in China, India, South Korea and Taiwan
- Big Pharma Performance Before, During and Beyond the Global Recession
- Optimizing Lifecycle Management: Maximizing commercial lifespan through label expansion and combination products
- The CRO Market Outlook: Emerging markets, leading players and future trends
- Pharmaceutical Sales Force Effectiveness Strategies
- Commercial Insight: Influenza Vaccines and Antivirals - The pandemic's long-term impact
