Some of the proposals under consideration would allow the government to negotiate costs of drugs based on their prices in other countries or force drugmakers to pay rebates if a drug’s price increases by more than the rate of inflation. They could decrease drugmakers’ sales by billions of dollars if passed, according to the WSJ.
Out of fear of making less money, drugmakers have been lobbying officials to consider measures that would pressure pharmacy benefit managers to provide relief on patients’ costs without affecting the drugmakers’ ability to set prices. Pharmaceutical companies also argue the measures could inhibit access to medicine and reduce funding to research and develop new drugs.
Drugmakers want to delay the approval of drug pricing plans through the end of the year, as it is unlikely that Congress could act on them during election campaigning early next year, according to the WSJ.
Read the full report here.
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