Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: While You Were Distracted, Big Pharma Raised Prices
In the thick of the coronavirus pandemic, while receiving billions in taxpayer dollars to help develop critically needed vaccines, the biggest pharmaceutical corporations hoped no one would notice that they were raising prices on more than聽800 prescription medicines聽that families rely on for their health and wellbeing. That鈥檚 nothing new: between 2007 and 2018, drug corporations聽increased聽list prices on prescription drugs by 160%. As a result, Americans today pay聽two- to four times聽more for prescription drugs than people in other countries for the same medicines. That鈥檚 why Democrats and Republicans alike have campaigned for years to lower drug prices, because the cost is simply unaffordable for too many. (Margarida Jorge, 5/29)
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a loss of focus on rising pharmaceutical drug prices. The industry bringing forth vaccines to protect our health and facilitate a return to a more favorable quality of life is laudable. However, in the first six months of 2020, when the pandemic was raging, pharmaceutical companies increased prices on 245 drugs according to a report by Patients for Affordable Drugs. The costs of pharmaceuticals have become unsustainable. (John F. McKeon, 5/30)
A sizable part of the Illinois budget provides medical care for its residents who do not have the means to purchase health insurance on their own. While reducing this cost without sacrificing the quality of care can be difficult and politically contentious, the state recently managed to save tens of millions of dollars simply by employing the private sector to help negotiate prices for a new lifesaving drug. Twenty percent of Illinois鈥 population is enrolled in Medicaid. Last year the state spent nearly $1 billion for prescription drugs, a good portion of the state鈥檚 $43 billion budget.聽 (Ike Brannon and Tony Lo Sasso, 5/30)
The Food and Drug Administration recently approved two over-the-counter, at-home rapid coronavirus tests. Harvard epidemiologist Dr. Michael Mina called this development 鈥渁 major advance.鈥 He鈥檚 right. But the FDA should have reached this milestone months ago. Regulators dawdled, and thousands of people died. Public health experts have been calling for at-home COVID-19 tests since the early days of the pandemic. With more testing, more people would know they had the virus, stayed home, and slowed the virus鈥檚 spread. (Sally C. Pipes, 6/1)
