Relentless Health Value

Let’s get a fast bead on what’s going on with drug pricing reform, shall we? Every time I wade into these waters, my head about explodes. So, I very much appreciate the opportunity to quiz Josh LaRosa from the always-well-informed Wynne Health Group. Here’s the goings-on in a nutshell: There’s goings-on. This infrastructure bill that’s in all the news all over the place right about now? You know what the plan is to fund all those bridges? Yeah, well, part of it is for Medicare to save money on drugs and then apply the savings to cover the costs of all those roads and train tunnels. There are three major potential ways that the federal government might conceive of collecting these drug savings: (1) They could try to get others to pick up some of the Medicare Part D costs—others meaning private payers and pharma manufacturers. (2) Also, they can limit how much manufacturers could raise prices via this “inflation rebate” proposal. Interestingly, this “you can’t raise prices more than the rate of inflation or els