Trump’s Executive Orders Will Make Prescription Drugs More Affordable
This has “it isn’t going to work over the insurance industry’s dead body ” written all over it. The insurance industry has one of the largest pots of money to hire lobbyists to convince the 535 members of Congress to see things the way the insurance industry wants things to be. They got Congress to pass the McCarran Ferguson Act during the 1904’s that exempted the entire industry from the Sherman Antitrust Act and there has been numerous entities that has tried to get that law repealed since the late 80’s and as recently as a few years ago when the House passed the repeal with a large majority of the House voting to repeal, but it never got any action in the Senate.
That $30 +/- per month that most Medicare folks are paying for their Part D premiums… they will just increase them 2-3-4-5 times what they are paying now.. because Medicare Part D is private insurance from FOR PROFIT INSURANCE COMPANIES.. the same will most likely happen with everyone on Medicare Advantage programs … the people on those programs can forget about the no premiums and little/no co-pays and other “freebies” that they are currently promising under the Medicare Advantage program.
And purchasing medications from other country may not be a “cake walk”… unlike the USA where the distribution of medications are highly controlled. Other countries medications have to pass across many borders to get where they are going and each time they change hands there is a risk of counterfeit meds being swapped out from the real meds.
The Insurance/PBM industry has spent 50 years putting their very profitable scheme together and they will not let it be torn apart without a fight.
The existing drug system sounds like something out of The Godfather. Now the president is taking it on.
President Trump recently introduced four executive orders aimed at reducing drug prices for all Americans. Affordability in health care is consistently a leading issue on the minds of the people, and the price of prescription drugs is a key component of that. Every president, regardless of party, wants to make medication more affordable. But more times than not, they fail to make much of a difference. President Trump’s orders, however, should.
Insulin, a drug that has been in existence for nearly a century, continues to be cost prohibitive for many diabetics. We’ve all seen story after story of people having to choose between groceries and lifesaving drugs—even at a time when the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land. Over the last 10 years, the price of Humalog, a commonly prescribed insulin, has increased from $75 to $250, with no changes to formula, packaging, or designs.
Over the same time frame, the list prices established by pharmaceutical companies have skyrocketed, although their profits have remained relatively flat. The middlemen and insurers, however, have seen record growth and rampant consolidation due to the large rebates they command from the manufacturers that benefit from being on the insurers’ drug lists. This is a broken system; it sounds like a business model straight out of The Godfather movies.
The next EO, the International Pricing Index (also known as the “most favored nation” order), seeks to compel pharmaceutical manufacturers to charge the U.S. no more than the lowest price available among economically advanced countries for Medicare Part B drugs. Clearly, this is rate-setting and not a sustainable solution, but the order is the only one that comes with a trigger mechanism. President Trump has given Big Pharma until noon August 24 to negotiate a substantive plan to lower the cost of drugs for the American people.
If the manufacturers are unsuccessful in producing a viable plan, it will pull the trigger that initiates most favored nation status. This tactic has given the president necessary leverage to push for a deal that makes sense.
The importation order achieves the same end, but it will ultimately be up to the states to implement, should they wish to import drugs from nations with which they negotiate. Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida has been a long-time proponent of this policy and has been leading the charge for his state.
Another order that focuses on bringing down the cost of insulin and epinephrine was issued within the network of clinics known as Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC). Patients that are seen in these clinics will now be able to take advantage of newly extended purchasing discounts that will allow them to get these life-saving drugs for pennies on the dollar.
The fourth and perhaps most substantive order makes rebates for Medicare patients available at the pharmacy. Insurers and other middlemen have often kept these rebates and counted them as revenue rather than passing them on to patients. This order makes Medicare patients the beneficiaries of these rebates, which will result in much greater affordability for our seniors who are often on fixed incomes.
Are the orders perfect? Perhaps not. But the absence of leadership from Congress to get this done has resulted in needed action from President Trump. The physicians and patients who attended the signing applauded this effort and encouraged the administration to press on to make health care even more affordable. We are all patients, and efforts like this are opportunities for us to unite in our effort to fix our broken health care system.
Filed under: General Problems
I went yesterday to get my pain meds filled at Rite Aid and they were out and had to order them. My script was dated 9/2/2020 and I was getting them a day later(9/3) than I could have. I know chain pharmacies have been discussed quite a bit on here but I’ve had only 2 instances in many years when they’ve been out of the drug. I try to keep a couple of days held back for bad weather days or bad feeling days.
Since I’ve been pushed ahead a day(s) my stockpile just went lower. I never realized that if you drop a script off late in the day and wait till the next day to pick up your next month due date is now moved to the pick-up date not the written date.
My concern is the Biden-Harris admin. might decide pain meds for seniors are not important or necessary. I’m lucky my Dr. still rxs the meds and fear medicare for all would hurt the real medicare pts. With the cancel culture going on at all levels complaining about our meds or Drs might cause serious reprisals for the patients. A pregnant women in Australia, was hauled out of her home under arrest in front of her family for a FaceBook post. Sites like this may be a thing of the past if the morality police get control. Thank you Steve for your knowledge and voice in the pain community.
I think that pharmacies were forced to report them in this matter because there was too many pharmacies where techs were processing a controlled Rx via the pharmacy computer system and it was reported to the PDMP state database and then the pharmacist decided that they ‘were not comfortable” filling it… and it had already been sent to the PDMP and there was no way to reverse that PDMP entry… the pt takes the Rx to a different pharmacy and depending on how quickly the PDMP is updated.. it looks like the pt just got the Rx filled at another pharmacy and/or the PDMP doesn’t update for 24-48-72 hrs and then someone gets a report that the pt got the same med from two different pharmacies on the same day. Not every bureaucrat looking at such reports will try to find out the details just presume that the data is correct and act/react accordingly and a innocent pt may end up getting tagged as a pharmacy shopper and potential substance abuser or diverter and entities like Narxcare pickup on this information and give the pt a arbitrary ‘high score” and cause the pt a great deal of problems …even denial of getting their meds because of that report and cause a whole bunch of issues to “daisy chain” adversely affecting the pt’s health… both physical and mental… thru no fault of their own
The issue here is that the president signed this EO over the summer not to directly lower drug prices, but to get PhRMA over a barrel and come to the negotiating table.
He said on Tuesday he planned to meet with pharmaceutical execs this week, “They’re coming in to see me.” For their part, the trade group responded that they’re not aware of any meeting.
If the president is unable to leverage his dealmaking ability to negotiate an agreement that would reduce the out-of-pocket costs Americans pay for prescriptions, then Trump’s EO would compel “rate-setting” (or attempt to).
As the article above correctly acknowledges, this is not sustainable. (For example, it’s led to disastrous consequences across the long-term care delivery system.)
Sorry so disappointed that you are actually supporting Trump.
It’s enough I’m going to unsubscribe. Why? Because he is trying to dissolve the affordable care act leaving thousands without coverage; not to mention excluding those who have preexisting conditions. So it doesnt matter if prescriptions are cheaper, if insurance doesn’t cover the drs visit or the medicine because it’s for a pre-existing condition…
And let’s not even address the #of lies he has told to the American people which has resulted in at least the last 25xxx deaths of covid if not more….by not investing in a national testing system; by not investing in legit therapeutics etc..
Why in the world would you not report both sides?
Why would you not report injecting bleach isnt safe & why?
That hydroxicloriquine hasnt been proven safe? That taking the extract of oleander plant recommended by the my pillow guy isnt going to keep you from getting covid and it certainly wont cure covid? Why arent you reporting on that this president is truly not listening to science & drs? Why not report on the latest studies showing that SARS-CoV-2 aka covid-19 virus actually infects the lining of the blood vessels in your system which is what causes additional damage to the body, blood clots, organ failure, etc?
Why are you reporting on what occurs when you try a hard immunity approach occurs w something like covid?
It is too bad that you did not read my opinion on this… It is NOT GOING TO WORK… and Biden/Harris program… is not really Medicare for all .. its description is Medicaid for all – no copay, no deductibles, no premiums… that is going to cost 3-4 TRILLION/yr… as much as our entire federal budget is right now… but if they confiscate all the ASSETS of all the Billionaires and all the ASSETS of all the millionaires .. they would probably be able to fund it the FIRST YEAR… and we can’t borrow or print money to pay for it… having insurance and getting appropriate medical care is not the same thing… How many chronic painers have insurance and not getting any care or told that their health issues are TOO COMPLEX that doctors will not admit them to a practice. I really don’t care if some people unsubscribe who can’t read past the headlines or read and understand what is stated. According to searching comments this is the first time that you have bothered to make your opinions to be known since this is the first time that you have posted a comment. Are you just as passive as a pt? … because passive pts typically get poor outcomes ! Obamacare worked so well… the majority of people had their premiums jump dramatically and had deductibles increased dramatically… the only ones that could have possibly benefit from it was the ones that basically qualified for premium/deducible assistance… and they were basically put on the state’s Medicaid program. I am sure that a lot of people who wanted Obamacare… were told that they were going to be put on Medicare/Welfare… would not have been so anxious to be on Welfare
I am so sorry you have a misunderstanding. I didn’t vote Trump the first time.. But it is so important this time..
They are actively in favor of socialism. If you have not read about that please do. Except for a select few at the top.. all us peons will absolutely divvy up all monies and some of the all, after (government coffers are filled) You could wait for 6 months for a nurse practioner, unable to see a specialist..unable to change if you don’t get along with your “doctor” and medical money will be in very short supply.
Read about Cuba. Venezuela, Read about Hitler..Some areas force labor. Most don’t own houses unless they have been in the family generations. Taxes are +50% for EVERYONE I don’t care what they say. You have to have permission from gvt for everything.. 1 pair of shoes every 2 years. No trading cellphones for the newest model.
Why do you think so many thousands of Men and women gave their lives to keep us socialist/communist free? Yes they slip together..
Please read about it.