Affordable Medicine Is Critical To Millions, And Big Pharma’s Price Hikes Can Be Deadly

In 2015, the cost of a little-known drug called Daraprim skyrocketed overnight from $13.50 to $750 a pill.

In 2016, the ubiquitous allergy medicine Epi-Pen rose from $100 to $600 in an instant.

Americans who rely on these medicines were outraged, while the companies who manufacture the drugs made record profits.

Pharmaceutical companies are allowed to set prices as they see fit with a patchwork system of insurance providers.

These scandals are just two examples of a pervasive problem with American healthcare, which allows pharmaceutical companies to set prices as they see fit with a patchwork system of insurance providers.

According to a study published in Journal of the American Medical Association, “The 25 largest pharmaceutical companies accounted for 73% of all pharmaceutical sales in 2015. As such, it has been argued that pharmaceutical companies have an obligation to balance their responsibility to patients and the profit expectations of their shareholders.”

The 25 largest pharmaceutical companies accounted for 73% of all pharmaceutical sales in 2015.

There are no restrictions of profit margins. There is little transparency in the pricing process. The result? Americans pay more for prescription drugs than any other nation in the world.

“On average, U.S. prices are higher no matter what method you use; not by a little bit, but quite a bit,” Andrew Mulcahy, PhD, a senior policy researcher at RAND and the lead author of a report on pharmaceutical costs told WebMD.

In 2016, the ubiquitous allergy medicine Epi-Pen rose from $100 to $600 in an instant.

In most European countries, single-payer health systems use their size to negotiate big discounts, but the United States does not have a similar program and the Affordable Care Act did nothing to rein in the costs of prescription drugs when it was passed.

“That is probably my single greatest regret, is we didn’t have the chance to get negotiating power for Medicare for drugs. That would have made a profound difference,” said former Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), a member of the Finance Committee when the health care law passed.

In 2015, the cost of a drug called Daraprim skyrocketed overnight from $13.50 to $750 a pill.

The spike in price of lifesaving drugs from affordable to exorbitant signals something is wrong with the Medicare system. Similarly, the fact that the VA is allowed to negotiate directly with drug companies, but Medicare is not. This means Medicare ends up with a deal that’s better for the pharmaceutical companies than the people Medicare serves.

Two changes to current American policy would go a long way to ensuring pharmaceutical companies don’t exploit the sick:

Requiring drug-makers to justify the costs of their treatments and disclose major price hikes.
Repeal the noninterference clause of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 which prevents Medicare, the single largest payer for health care in the U.S., from negotiating directly with drug companies.

Take a stand for all Americans and ask for fair pricing and transparency in the pharmaceutical industry.

Lives are on the line and the American public is being forced to pad the pocketbooks of wealthy pharmaceutical executives. Help us ask the Department of Health and Human Services to enact these changes which would be a good start to controlling out-of-control drug prices in the United States.