Last Friday President Trump unveiled his administration’s plan to help make prescription drugs more affordable for patients. The blueprint called “American Patients First” builds on the president’s 2019 budget proposal.

After reviewing the policies listed in the blueprint and talking with our national partners we believe that some of the proposals could ultimately make medicines more affordable for patients, and others would limit patients’ access to innovative treatments.

The administration seeks to accomplish these primary priorities with their comprehensive blueprint:

• Increase competition in drug markets

• Give Medicare Part D better tools to negotiate discounts

• Provide incentives for lower list prices

• Lower patient out-of-pocket costs.

BIO Innovation Organization (BIO) has provided an expansive list of ways the Trump Administration would accomplish the primary priorities noted above They include:

• Reducing out-of-pocket costs by prohibiting pharmacy gag clauses under Medicare Part D, will allow pharmacists to notify seniors of lower-cost alternatives

• Consider changes to the prohibition on drug copay discount cards in public programs

• Create demonstration projects to test value-based pricing models

• Multiple reforms of Medicare Part D, which include a new out-of-pocket maximum and requiring plans to share a minimum portion of drug rebates with patients

• Inflation cap on Average Sales Price (ASP) for drug reimbursement under Medicare Part B, as well as consideration of a competitive acquisition program

• A minimum requirement on charity care for hospitals participating in the 340B drug discount program

• Establishing demonstration programs to test greater state flexibility for Medicaid drug coverage

• Changes to the FDA’s first-to-file 180-day exclusivity rule in order to prevent excessive blocking of competing generics

• Evaluate the inclusion of list prices in direct-to-consumer advertising

While the President’s blueprint leans into looking at the entire supply chain – and expands on Medicare Part D’s success by ensuring drug rebates are shared with patients rather than middlemen – we still believe there are components that would disrupt our system, ultimately putting our patients at risk. At CBSA we continue to remain dedicated to patients; to helping people live longer, healthier lives. That’s why we advocate for a holistic, collaborative approach to the drug price conversation.

We anticipate implementation to be a long process with 60-day comment periods, stakeholder meetings and opportunities to share perspective.

We look forward to continuing our work with our national partners, CO delegation, and our members to ensure we are involved and advocating for our industry as this process unfolds over the next year (or two). It is CBSA’s priority to ensure our priorities are heard and that we encourage bioscience innovation in Colorado.

Here is the link to the White House’s fact sheet.

Here is the link to the full live remarks.