Let’s get a fast bead on what’s going on with drug pricing reform, shall we? Every time I wade into these waters, my head about explodes. So, I very much appreciate the opportunity to quiz Josh LaRosa from the always-well-informed Wynne Health Group.
Here’s the goings-on in a nutshell: There’s goings-on. This infrastructure bill that’s in all the news all over the place right about now? You know what the plan is to fund all those bridges? Yeah, well, part of it is for Medicare to save money on drugs and then apply the savings to cover the costs of all those roads and train tunnels.
There are three major potential ways that the federal government might conceive of collecting these drug savings: (1) They could try to get others to pick up some of the Medicare Part D costs—others meaning private payers and pharma manufacturers. (2) Also, they can limit how much manufacturers could raise prices via this “inflation rebate” proposal. Interestingly, this “you can’t raise prices more than the rate of inflation or else you have to rebate the difference” legislation is also being bandied about for Medicare Part B (as in boy) drugs. And those Part B drugs? Those are frequently the really expensive ones (ie, the oncology meds that are infused). And then the third way (3) to save some shekel that might wind up in the infrastructure bill is permitting HHS (the Department of Health and Human Services) to negotiate for drug prices. This last one is always a hot potato, but the winds might be changing some.
On the Executive Branch front, we also may have a reboot of the Most Favored Nation rule, but I’ll let Josh explain that one. In fact, I’ll let Josh explain the brouhaha on all of these possibilities. For more information on any of this, read the article that Josh LaRosa and his Wynne Health Group colleagues wrote for The Commonwealth Fund blog recently.
You can learn more at wynnehealth.com or by following on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Josh LaRosa, MPP, is a policy director at Wynne Health Group, focusing primarily on regulatory affairs with a focus on the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). His interests lie in delivery reform and innovations in payment and care delivery models. Josh also supports the firm’s Public Option Institute, which studies the emergence of public option programs at the state level.
Prior to Wynne Health Group, Josh consulted for the CMS Innovation Center, where he worked to implement, monitor, and spread learning garnered from the center’s high-profile demonstration projects, most recently including the national primary care redesign effort, Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+).
Josh holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of Virginia’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. He also completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia, graduating cum laude with a BA in political philosophy, policy, and law.
02:56 Where are we on drug pricing reform in legislation?
05:06 What things have the greatest potential for consideration on drug pricing reform legislation?
06:07 How is the Part D benefit design and reform shaping up?
07:55 Who is one of the largest offenders of high federal spending?
09:15 Who is going to pay in the reform of the catastrophic pricing phase?
12:04 What are inflation rebates?
15:36 “The interesting part of the inflation rebates … is that it not only … had these inflation rebates as applying to … Medicare Part D drugs but also Medicare Part B … drugs.”
16:20 How likely is this reform?
18:43 What’s happening on the regulatory and administrative side of drug pricing?
24:23 When will we start to see what the White House intends to do about drug reform pricing?