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patients for affordable drugs now
US Public Opposes Big Pharma Attack on Medicare Drug Price Negotiations by 5-to-1 Margin
"Elected officials who align themselves with this unpopular and greedy industry, against the will of voters, do so at their own political risk," said one patient advocate.
Sep 19, 2023
Republican lawmakers who support Big Pharma's efforts to block Medicare from negotiating for lower drug prices do so at their own peril, said an advocacy group Tuesday as it released polling data that shows the U.S. public overwhelmingly opposes drug companies' scheme.
Along with Hart Research Associates and GS Strategy Group, Patients for Affordable Drugs Now (P4ADNOW) polled 1,000 likely voters from August 23-27 and found that respondents opposed the numerous lawsuits the pharmaceutical industry has filed to block implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act's provision allowing Medicare to negotiate.
Seventy-two percent of voters said the law should be implemented, and 77% said they didn't believe the industry's claim that it's suing because of concerns about the provision's constitutionality—saying they think companies are only concerned it will reduce their profits, which reached a combined $110 billion last year for the eight largest pharma firms.
"The American people understand the lawsuits to block lower drug prices through Medicare negotiation are not about looking after the best interests of patients and consumers, but about the industry seeking to restore its unilateral power to dictate prices of brand name drugs without limits in the United States," said David Mitchell, founder of P4ADNOW. "The lawsuits are a naked assault against the will of the American people, and we stand with the people."
Ninety percent of respondents said lowering drug prices should be an important or a top priority for Congress, and 53% said they had an unfavorable view of drug companies after learning of the lawsuits they have filed against the Biden administration. Eighty-four percent supported allowing Medicare to negotiate directly with drug companies to lower costs for patients.
The poll was released less than a month after the Biden administration announced the first 10 prescriptions that will be subject to the negotiations, drawing applause from Democratic lawmakers and patient advocates.
Republicans such as Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Mike Crapo of Idaho—who received a combined $468,900 in campaign donations from pharma companies and their political action committees from 2017-22—have joined the industry in attacking the law, claiming it will "stunt the development of lifesaving treatments and cures," as Blackburn said last month.
Only 18% of voters included in the poll agreed that the law will harm research and development in the industry, while 67% believed drug companies will still be able to make huge profits and find new treatments and cures for diseases.
"Efforts in Congress to undermine implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act fly in the face of the wishes of the overwhelming majority of voters—84% of whom support the law, including 93% of Democrats, 78% of independents and 80% of Republicans," said Mitchell. "Elected officials who align themselves with this unpopular and greedy industry, against the will of voters, do so at their own political risk."
Merith Basey, executive director of P4ADNOW, noted that pharmaceutical companies draw huge profits in other high-income countries, despite the fact that they negotiate drug prices with federal agencies working on behalf of patients.
"Those nations have better health outcomes, longer life expectancy, and for lower cost," said Basey. "It's in the United States that the drug industry seeks to fleece patients with unlimited pricing power."
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Progressives Call On Schumer to Go Further to Lower Insulin Prices for All
"It is vital that affordable insulin access is provided to everyone, including those who do not have insurance," wrote healthcare advocates.
Jul 10, 2023
More than three dozen healthcare and consumer advocacy groups on Monday applauded recently passed legislation to expand access to lifesaving insulin—but with more than a million people in the U.S. still forced to ration the diabetes treatment due to skyrocketing costs, the groups said U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer must take further action to ensure no more Americans risk their health, or even die, due to insulin prices.
With the Senate expected to advance a packages that will address high drug prices, groups including Public Citizen, Metro New York Health Care for All, and Patients for Affordable Drugs told the Democratic leader, who represents New York, that any legislation must pass "the Alec Smith test."
Alec Smith died at the age of 26, less than a month after he aged out of his parents' insurance plan. He made just enough money to not qualify for any insurance subsidies or patient assistance programs and so was forced to pay for insulin for his Type 1 diabetes out of pocket—$1,300 per month. Unable to afford the medication on top of housing costs, bills, and other essentials, Smith rationed his insulin supply and died of ketoacidosis in 2017.
"Any insulin legislation that would not have prevented this tragedy fails the Alec Smith test," wrote the groups. "It is vital that affordable insulin access is provided to everyone, including those who do not have insurance, in addition to those who are privately insured."
"Insulin legislation advanced through the Senate should put an end to perverse arrangements between drug corporations and middlemen that stifle potential savings from lower-priced insulins and put patients' lives at risk."
The groups said the legislation must include three key elements, including:
- Ensuring people with private insurance and those without insurance, who are most vulnerable to rationing, have access to the insulin they need;
- Stopping insulin manufacturers from charging excessive prices, which they have raised as much as 1100% since the 1990s despite the products remaining the same and companies benefiting from low production costs; and
- Preventing anti-competitive tactics from drug corporations and middlemen from interfering with patient access to lower-priced insulin products, including biosimilars.
"As pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) demonstrated preferences for covering insulin products with higher list prices to secure larger rebates, insulin manufacturers responded by raising prices in lockstep," wrote the groups. "Patients who pay out of pocket for all or a portion of list prices that have been sharply increased by drug corporations suffer under this scheme."
"Insulin legislation advanced through the Senate should put an end to perverse arrangements between drug corporations and middlemen that stifle potential savings from lower-priced insulins and put patients' lives at risk," they added.
The organizations credited the Democratic Party with passing medication price reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act and the American Rescue Plan, guaranteeing access to insulin for Medicare recipients for no more than $35 per month and lifting a cap on Medicaid rebates.
A recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, however, showed that 1.3 million people in the U.S. are still forced to ration insulin, including 29.2% of people without insurance and nearly 20% of those with private insurance.
"Hopefully soon, some of these patients will feel improvements in access and pricing due the policies that have been enacted," wrote the groups, "but many require further relief—the Senate's work is far from complete."
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Report Shows How Big Pharma Is Price Gouging Cancer Patients
"Cancer patients—the majority of whom are on Medicare—can face annual out-of-pocket costs of more than $16,500."
Jun 14, 2023
Major pharmaceutical companies are
profiting immensely from the second-leading cause of death in the United States by saddling cancer patients with tens of thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs, often forcing them to choose between treatment and other basic necessities.
But many people living with cancer in the U.S. will soon see long-overdue relief thanks to provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a law that the pharmaceutical industry lobbied aggressively against and is still fighting tooth and nail.
According to a report published Wednesday by Patients for Affordable Drugs, cancer patients will benefit substantially from the IRA's $2,000 cap on annual out-of-pocket medicine spending for Medicare Part D enrollees—a limit that's set to take effect in 2025.
Of the nearly 62,000 people on traditional Medicare who receive a brand-name cancer drug through Medicare Part D, 99% will see savings from the out-of-pocket spending cap, said Patients for Affordable Drugs, which partnered with the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago on the new analysis.
On average, that population will see savings of more than $7,500 once the spending cap is in place in 2025. Some will see savings of over $19,000 in 2025.
"To afford it, I have fundraised, searched for grants, sold furniture and my husband's truck, and zeroed out our savings."
The coming savings highlight the extent to which cancer patients and the Medicare program are currently being gouged by cancer drug manufacturers, which often raise prices on their products annually after developing them with government support.
"Between 2017 and 2021, the average initial price of a new Part D cancer drug rose by more than 25% to over $235,000 yearly when adjusted for inflation," Patients for Affordable Drugs noted in its new report, citing a recent investigation by Rep. Katie Porter's (D-Calif.) office. "Pharmaceutical companies then raise the prices on these drugs year after year."
David Mitchell, the founder of Patients for Affordable Drugs and a blood cancer patient whose medications come with a list price of more than $900,000 a year, said in a statement Wednesday that "cancer patients—the majority of whom are on Medicare—can face annual out-of-pocket costs of more than $16,500."
"The historic Inflation Reduction Act includes policies that will bring needed relief to millions of patients, especially older Americans with cancer," said Mitchell. "We've been waiting for this relief for far too long."
The new report spotlights several high-priced brand-name cancer medications sold by Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), Johnson & Johnson, and other major pharmaceutical companies.
Pfizer has hiked the price of Ibrance, a breast cancer medication, every year since it came to market in 2015. Today, the list price is "more than $15,000 per bottle," Patients for Affordable Drugs observed.
"Celgene/BMS has almost tripled the price of Revlimid—a drug to treat multiple myeloma—since it came to market in 2006," the group added. "Despite being on the market for more than 15 years, the drug remains one of the best-selling products in the world. Much of these sales are paid for by taxpayers, with Medicare Part D spending over $5.8 billion on the drug in 2021 for 45,601 beneficiaries."
Jackie Trapp, a multiple myeloma patient in Wisconsin, told Patients for Affordable Drugs that Revlimid costs her "$20,000 each year on Medicare."
"To afford it, I have fundraised, searched for grants, sold furniture and my husband's truck, and zeroed out our savings," she said. "The price of Revlimid has had real impacts on my husband and my quality of life. It is already unfair that I am likely to leave my husband all alone sooner than I would like, but now I fear of leaving him bankrupt as well."
Trapp's case is hardly an outlier.
A recent American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network survey of 1,218 cancer patients and survivors found that "more than 70% of respondents said they made significant lifestyle changes in order to afford care, including delaying major purchases (36%), depleting most or all of their savings (28%), going into more credit card debt (28%), and borrowing money from relatives and friends (20%)."
Trapp said the $2,000 out-of-pocket spending cap "will be huge," helping "bring me and my husband peace of mind, knowing that my portion of my sky-high drug prices will be lower than it is now and that we'd have a reasonable limit if I lost my grant."
The new report comes as the Biden administration is facing pressure to build on the Inflation Reduction Act, which will also require Medicare to negotiate the prices of a small number of high-cost prescription drugs.
Merck, whose cancer drug Keytruda carries an annual list price of $175,000, sued the Biden administration last week in an attempt to block the price negotiation provision.
Patients for Affordable Drugs pointed out that Keytruda and Revlimid are in the top ten drugs for U.S. sales in 2021 and their manufacturers have applied for more than 180 patents on each drug."
"Research shows that when drug corporations amass dozens of patents, competition from lower-priced generics and biosimilars is delayed, leaving patients and taxpayers footing the bill for billions in unjust profits," the group said. "Fortunately, there are bills in the 118th Congress that crack down on abuse of the patent and regulatory system. If these bills become law, they will enable more affordable drugs to come to market more quickly, providing relief for patients struggling to pay for overpriced medications."
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have also outlined steps the United States Patent and Trademark Office can take immediately and unilaterally to curb abuses of the patent system.
"For decades," the lawmakers wrote in April, "powerful pharmaceutical companies and other large corporate actors have repeatedly abused the patent system to stifle competition and prolong their market power, showing no regard for the harm done to patients through sustained high prices."
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