A proposed Trump Administration rule would require the pharmaceutical industry to include prices in television ads. HHS Secretary Alex Azar said this is another step in the Administration’s efforts to lower prescription drug prices, and several outlets called this action the “boldest” move yet on the federal government’s part.
The Washington Post reports that on Monday, Azar unveiled a proposed rule which would require pharmaceutical companies “to include the list price of medicines in television advertisements to consumers – the boldest in a series of efforts by the Trump administration to curb rampant drug spending.” Under the proposal, “drug manufacturers would need to disclose in ads the list price of a 30-day supply of any drug that is covered through Medicare and Medicaid and costs more than $35 a month.” Speaking before the National Academy of Medicine, Azar said, “Sometimes it takes government to make the first move, to disrupt a broken system, and to lay down new rules of the road.” The health insurance industry praised “the administration ‘for taking such bold action,’” while the “American Medical Association lamented the existence of direct consumer advertising of medicine but said in a statement that ‘as long as the practice is allowed, the ads should come with at least a small dose of transparency.’”
Bloomberg News reports the drug industry continues to insist that “disclosing list prices without additional context would be confusing to patients.” Prior to the Administration’s announcement, “the main industry trade group said earlier Monday that companies would put up websites to explain their prices to patients in greater detail.” Azar stated during his speech, “It is no coincidence that the industry announced a new initiative today. … Placing information on a website is not the same as putting it right in an ad.”
PhRMA announces a plan to direct consumers to websites with data on drug prices. The New York Times reports that because of “pressure from the White House,” the drug industry said on Monday that “television advertisements for prescription drugs would soon direct viewers to company websites where they can find information on the list prices of medicines and estimates of the typical out-of-pocket costs for patients.” However, prices will not be included in the ads, as President Trump would like. Such a requirement “would be ‘very confusing and misleading, lack appropriate context and isn’t what patients want or need,’ Stephen J. Ubl, the president and chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said in announcing the industry’s voluntary action on Monday.” In response, HHS Secretary Alex Azar said this move was “a small step in the right direction.”
The Washington Post reports that while the drug industry touted its voluntary move, Azar insisted that further action is necessary. He is quoted as saying, “Our vision for a new, more transparent drug-pricing system does not rely on voluntary action. The drug industry remains resistant to providing real transparency around their prices, including the sky-high list prices that many patients pay.” The Post says the drug industry “has also faced pressure from Congress. A bipartisan drug pricing proposal that passed in the Senate and would have required drug prices to be included in TV ads was taken out of an appropriations bill in the house in September.”
From the news release of the American Association for Justice.
