The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board comes out strongly in opposition to proposed drug price controls—and new data shows why prescription drug prices aren’t the problem in health care spending.
ICYMI: Some lawmakers have been pushing legislation (H.R. 3) to allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices with manufacturers, a move the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board calls a “raid on future cures.”
“It’s one of the strangest, and most destructive, juxtapositions in political history,”says the editorial published last week. “Even as vaccines developed by drug companies are saving the world from COVID, the Democratic Party wants to rob these firms of the reward for innovation that is essential to developing future cures.”
But the thing is…prescription drug prices remain the sole major category of health care spending with decreasing prices in August, according to new data published by Altarum.
Specifically: Prescription drug prices fell 2.7% in August 2021 compared to August 2020, extending the now 11-month streak of negative price growth.
So, what now? “Three Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee voted Wednesday against a House provision directing the Health and Human Services secretary to dictate drug prices. But a similar provision passed Ways and Means, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi may try to jam it through on the House floor,” explains the WSJ.
Read: Drug price controls stall in reconciliation markup
Watch and Share: Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA) explains why price controls will harm innovation and cures
BIO will continue to fight price controls—so stay tuned. BIO has been—and remains—committed to working with lawmakers on patient-centered reforms that boost access to lifesaving medicines and treatments without compromising the next generation of lifesaving cures.
More Health Care News:
AP: Pfizer says COVID-19 vaccine works in kids ages 5 to 11
“For elementary school-aged kids, Pfizer tested a much lower dose—a third of the amount that’s in each shot given now. Yet after their second dose, children ages 5 to 11 developed coronavirus-fighting antibody levels just as strong as teenagers and young adults getting the regular-strength shots.”
