Growing out-of-pocket costs in Medicare Part D are a heavy burden for many older Americans.
Alliance for Aging Research Outlines Drug Pricing Priorities to Congressional Leadership
Published May 24, 2021
WASHINGTON, May 24, 2021 –Today the Alliance for Aging Research sent a letter to Congressional leadership outlining principles for patient-centered drug pricing reform. In the letter, the Alliance asked Congress to prioritize addressing Medicare beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket costs this year. Specific policy proposals include:
- Limiting patients’ total out-of-pocket costs under Medicare Part D
- Allowing Medicare patients to pay drug costs in installments, rather than face large lump sum payments
- Expand support for low-income beneficiaries
- Create a monetary penalty for manufacturers would increase drug list prices faster than the rate of inflation
- Expand Medicare coverage to include dental, vision, and hearing services.
In addition, the Alliance underlined the importance of avoiding the use of metrics that harm patients’ ability to access care, including international reference pricing, which relies on discriminatory metrics that harm older adults and individuals with disabilities, and step therapy.
The Alliance’s letter can be found here.
About the Alliance for Aging Research
The Alliance for Aging Research is the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the pace of scientific discoveries and their application to vastly improve the universal human experience of aging and health. The Alliance believes advances in research help people live longer, happier, more productive lives and reduce healthcare costs over the long term. For more than 30 years, the Alliance has guided efforts to substantially increase funding and focus for aging at the National Institutes of Health and Food and Drug Administration; built influential coalitions to guide groundbreaking regulatory improvements for age-related diseases; and created award-winning, high-impact educational materials to improve the health and well-being of older adults and their family caregivers. For more information, visit www.agingresearch.org
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