NOW is your chance to help control the skyrocketing prices of important, innovative, and potentially life-saving prescription drugs! How? Contact the White House and urge the Trump Administration to NOT use the discriminatory Most Favored Nation drug proposal, or MFN, and instead demand real action to curb patients’ drug expenses.
The Issue:
President Trump recently signed an executive order (EO) using MFN to address prescription drug prices in federal programs. The MFN EO would tie Medicare’s purchase cost for drugs covered by Part B to the lowest cost observed in Canada and other countries. While price competition with other countries seems reasonable on its face, in practice it would have a disproportionately negative effect on companies that have newer or more innovative products on the market, often for what are the most challenging diseases. Without innovation, potential treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, and rare diseases will be delayed or even derailed, as will the ability of the industry to effectively respond to the next global pandemic. Importantly, a recent study showed that fewer than 1% of Medicare beneficiaries would see reductions in their drug costs as a result of the Administration’s proposal.
Regrettably, the MFN would also effectively endorse the use of discriminatory cost-effectiveness standards used by foreign governments. Many of the referenced countries, such as the United Kingdom and Canada, make drug reimbursement and coverage decisions based on cost-effectiveness assessments tied to the quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). These QALY assessments assign a financial value to the patients for whom a given treatment is intended. According to QALY assessments, if the group is sicker, older, and/or disabled, their value is less. When applied to healthcare decision-making, the results can mean that some patients—people with disabilities, veterans, and older adults—are deemed “too expensive” to receive care.
The President’s MFN EO is supposed to go into effect on Monday, August 24. That means we have until Monday, August 24 to convince President Trump to change course away from MFN and ask for real action that will address patients’ out-of-pocket costs. Now is your chance to help control the increasing burden of prescription drug costs for you and your loved ones.
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