Bureaucrats in DC Threatening Patient Access to Innovative Care

I worked in emergency medicine for over 30 years. Day after day, I saw how access to the latest medical innovations saves lives. I’m deeply concerned that Washington bureaucrats are putting this access to medical advancements at risk by proposing to strap US medicines with foreign price controls.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid recently proposed to apply the International Pricing Index (IPI) model to Medicare Part B and set the reimbursement price for prescription drugs to what 14 foreign countries pay. While these nations may have lower drug costs, there’s no question putting foreign price controls on US drugs will jeopardize patient access to care and hamper medical innovation in America.

The United States has been a critical leader in medical discovery, investing approximately $90 billion annually in the research and development of prescription drugs. This investment is the reason why the United States can provide new medicines to Americans years before other developed countries can obtain access. For example, the United States had access to 95 percent of cancer drugs launched between 2011 and 2018, compared to other countries that follow the IPI model like Britain which had access to only 74 percent of cancer drugs and Greece just 8 percent. Why would the US want to follow down this same path and halt medical innovation and access that’s saving American lives?

Proposals aimed at addressing prescription drug prices must not hamper innovation or access to new drugs that have the ability to cure diseases. CMS should go back to the drawing board on IPI and focus on patient-centered reforms that bring real costs savings without compromising medical advancement.

Dr. Carolyn Small