Drug Pricing Reform Can Prevent Lame-Duck Gridlock
Accusations of voter fraud and suppression have pinned both parties against one another in a more aggressive and belligerent fashion than ever before.
It’s not as if this country needed any more division. Months ago, gridlock-inducing partisan bickering already reached an all-time high, casting a dark cloud over the outlook of the 116thCongress’ final months. Now, some believe that the cloud is growing even darker.
Many on The Hill complain about Congress' lack of action, and as one of the House’s most bipartisan members in years’ past, I can emphasize. But in this lame-duck session, it doesn’t have to be this way. As counterintuitive as it may sound, this election offers our representatives a chance to reset and repair a deeply fractured government and nation.
This campaign season demonstrated significant crossover between the two parties in at least one crucial area: the desire to lower drug costs for the American people.
By now, anyone with a radio or TV set knows that this campaign pledge was shared by President Trump, former Vice President Biden, and just about every Republican and Democrat down the ticket. What few know is that a handful of members from both parties already crafted bipartisan solutions to mitigate the problem. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and the rest of congressional leadership should afford their bills priority status for chamber consideration. They represent the best chance that Congress has for a fruitful, effective lame-duck session.
Bill One: The Increasing Access to Biosimilars Act
One of the most promising pieces of legislation in this respect is the bipartisan Increasing Access to Biosimilars Act (IABA), which Reps. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., Tony Cárdenas, D-Calif., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., introduced in the House and Sens. John Cornyn R-Texas, Michael Bennet, D-Colo., filed in the upper chamber. The bill would lower drug costs by increasing the use of biosimilar drugs within Medicare.
“Biosimilar” is technical speak for medicines that drug makers develop to be similar to ones already approved by the FDA. Although they cost as much as 30-percent less, the public does not use them as often as it should. In large part, this lack of use is due to physicians instinctively prescribing them brand-names.
IABA will break this habit by having the Department of Health and Human Services oversee a new pilot program that provides incentives to everyone to change course. By allowing everyone to share in on the savings from using biosimilars, the bill will turbocharge the speed in which doctors kick their tendency to inadvertently raise costs, resulting in billions of dollars in savings for seniors and the Medicare program.
Bill Two: Protecting Access to Affordable Medicines Act
Without question, seniors need relief from high drug prices. Over 70 percent of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents agree that the prices they presently pay are unreasonable. That said, other groups need relief too.
Unsurprisingly, at the top of the list are low-income Americans. 35 percent of those making under $40,000 annually report having difficulty paying for their medications. It’s time we explore why.
Ironically enough, health care reformers unintentionally caused some of this pain. They made generic drugs face an inflationary penalty. This fee is supposed to disincentivize manufacturers from raising costs, but as written, it leads to shortages and creates obstacles to competition that can increase costs.
Yes, the way that some drug manufacturers, especially brand-name ones, hike their prices is inhumane and unacceptable. It shouldn’t be allowed. But this penalty hoses many of the same generic companies that operate with the singular mission of lowering costs for the American people. They can offer a drug at 10 cents per dose initially, raise its price by just 2 cents, and still face the penalty because the percentage increase is technically higher than the rate of inflation. In what world does that make sense?
People wonder why there aren’t enough low-cost drugs in the marketplace today. Well, discouraging new manufacturers from entering the marketplace and muscling existing ones out of operation isn’t exactly a winning formula. It also helps to explain why cheap generics are more susceptible to shortages than most drugs.
Reps G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., Billy Long, R-Mo., and Tony Cárdenas, D-Calif., have introduced a commonsense solution to this problem. Their Protecting Access to Affordable Medicines Act(PAAMA) will keep the inflationary penalty in effect, but only for drugs that are more than $1 a unit. This bill will safeguard lower prices for the American people. It will ensure that Washington’s rules of the road don’t inadvertently take low-cost drugs out of the hands of doctors and patients that need them most.
Conclusion
Passing bipartisan bills in the lame-duck isn't about impressing voters; it's about rebuilding trust within Congress. America's democracy is the greatest governmental system in the world. It no doubt needs gridlock to function, but not at the expense of all productivity and achievements.
We need Congress to work together again. Passing simple bipartisan bills on one of the few issues of public policy importance that both sides agree on is the best way to do that.
While Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader McConnell can call these bills for roll call votes, congressional committee leaders — in this case, Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Wyden, D-Oregon of the Senate Finance Committee, and Reps. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Greg Walden, R-Oregon, of the House and Energy & Commerce Committee — can also make life easier by including them into the year-end spending bill.
Drug prices have been too high for too long. Everyone knows it. Now is our elected representatives’ time to act on their shared campaign promises and works towards tackling the problem together.
Ryan Costello is a former Republican U.S. representative from Pennsylvania.
