Tag: Drug Prices

New Drug Prices Spiked in 2023 as Biden Admin Seeks to Keep Costs Down

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Joe Biden Drug Costs

Pharmaceutical companies set median starting list prices 35% higher in 2023 than the previous year, despite the Biden administration’s ongoing efforts to tamp down on surging costs, Reuters reported Friday.

The median list price for a drug being placed on the market, many of which were for rare diseases, was $300,000 in 2023, which is up from a median price of $222,000 in 2022, according to an analysis by Reuters of 47 drugs. The Biden administration has made it a goal to tame drug prices, announcing steps like imposing automatic rebates to Medicare for drugmakers that raise their prices faster than the rate of inflation, which does not cover the starting list price.

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Big Pharma Raises Hundreds of Drug Prices Despite Biden Admin Efforts to Keep Costs Down

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Pharmacist

Top pharmaceutical companies raised the list price on 775 brand-name drugs in just the first half of January, even as President Joe Biden aims to keep prices low, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The median price hike of the drugs was around 4.5%, with some rising by 10% or more, despite an inflation rate of 3.4% year-over-year in December, according to data from 46brooklyn Research acquired by the WSJ. The price hikes are in contrast to the president’s efforts to tame rising drug prices, taking actions such as imposing automatic rebates to Medicare for drugmakers that raise their prices faster than the price of inflation, which first went into effect in December, affecting 48 drugs covered under Medicare Part B.

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Biden’s New Georgia Ad Makes Questionable Claims on Supply Chains, Drug, and Utility Prices

Tom Pappert

President Joe Biden unveiled a new advertisement in Georgia this week, making bold claims about the accomplishments of his administration. However, the president’s claims to have addressed the supply chain crisis and lowered the prices of drugs and utilities may not stand up to scrutiny.

In the 30-second video, a narrator claims Biden “got to work” by “fixing the supply chains, fighting corporate greed, passing laws to lower the cost of medicine, cut utility bills, and make us more energy independent.” However, recent reporting reveals the supply chain crisis continued as recently as May, utility bills rose over last year, and the costs of most drugs increased in January.

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Connecticut Gov. Lamont Signs Healthcare Costs Containment Bill

The Center Square

Gov. Ned Lamont has signed a bill to reel in Connecticut’s rising healthcare costs through stronger regulation of hospitals and drug prices.

The legislation, signed on Tuesday, calls for banning the use of anti-competitive healthcare contracting practices, improving transparency in pricing for medical treatments, limits on hospital “facility fees” and multi-state bulk purchasing program to lower prescription drug costs, among other changes.

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Michigan Gov. Whitmer Signs Bipartisan Bills to Reduce Prescription Drug Prices

The Center Square

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Wednesday signed into law three bills aiming to reduce the price of prescription drugs.

“I am proud to sign this bipartisan legislation that helps us lower the cost of prescription drugs,” Whitmer said in a statement. “For too long, unlicensed pharmacy benefit managers have been able to engage in practices that drive up costs for Michiganders whose lives and health depend on critical prescription drugs like insulin. This bill brings much-needed transparency to our healthcare system and is a testament to what we can do when we put Michiganders first.”

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DeSantis Seeks Approval of Importation of Canadian Prescription Drugs

Peter D'Abrosca

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is asking the Biden administration to approve a plan that would allow for the importation of FDA-approved Canadian drugs to the Sunshine State, which would lower costs, according to the governor. 

“Today, Governor Ron DeSantis called on the Biden Administration and leadership at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to approve Florida’s Section 804 Importation Proposal (SIP) for Florida’s Canadian Prescription Drug Importation Program,” a Friday press release said

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Drug Pricing War That Led CVS and Walmart to Part Ways Will Disproportionately Impact Rural Communities

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by Evie Fordham   Walmart and CVS Health’s pharmacy benefit management (PBM) division announced they’re parting ways Tuesday, and it’s a split that could disproportionately impact rural patients, health care entrepreneur Dave Chase told The Daily Caller News Foundation. The split was brought on by a pricing dispute and means that many people who have CVS Health drug plans will no longer be able to pick up their prescriptions at Walmart locations. “Walmart is in a lot of rural areas where there aren’t a lot of choices … I think it’s definitely troublesome for patients,” Chase, a health care author and co-founder of Health Rosetta, told TheDCNF in a telephone interview Tuesday. But Chase also emphasized Walmart’s “unassailable” reputation for making drugs affordable, including its $4 generic prescription drug program. Walmart maintained that CVS was trying to control where customers filled their prescriptions, according to Bloomberg. “We are committed to providing value to our customers across our business, including our pharmacy, but we don’t want to give that value to the middle man,” Walmart said in a statement to The Daily Caller News Foundation Tuesday. “This issue underscores the problems that can arise when a PBM can exert their unregulated…

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