The EACH/PIC Coalition sent a letter to Members of Congress drawing attention to the limitations and potential harm of price-setting policies. The letter instead urged Congress to advance reforms that address patient-identified obstacles to care.
The letter stated:
“Proposals that impose government-set price ceilings or benchmark U.S. prices to foreign markets threaten to undermine patient access and the long-term development of new treatments. Centralized price controls may appear to lower costs on paper but often lead to restricted formularies, longer approval timelines, and fewer new therapies reaching patients.”
“The Medicare Negotiation Program authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act remains to be an untested and unknown mechanism. As we approach the implementation of the first round of Maximum Fair Prices (MFPs), we urge Congress to implement patient safeguards and reforms that will ensure that patient access to existing and future cures is not compromised[.]”
“Congress should firmly oppose efforts to import foreign reference pricing into the American drug market. These policies could compromise both patient access and ongoing medical innovation by importing foreign systems that do not reflect the same standards of care or innovation ecosystem[.]”
“To meaningfully reduce what patients pay, we encourage Congress to prioritize reforms rooted in patient experience:
- Hold Pharmacy Benefit Managers Accountable
- Prohibit spread pricing and require full disclosure of reimbursement and rebates.
- Replace percentage-based PBM compensation with flat-fee service models.
- Ensure negotiated discounts and rebates are passed to patients.
- Require full transparency of PBM contracts, rebate flows, and formulary design.
- Cap and Smooth Patient Out-of-Pocket Costs
- Implement annual limits on patient prescription spending.
- Adopt payment-smoothing mechanisms to distribute costs evenly over the year.
- Expand and Protect Assistance Programs
- Preserve manufacturer copay assistance.
- Ban accumulator and maximizer programs that nullify patient aid.
- Strengthen federal assistance for low-income or under-insured patients.
- Create a centralized clearinghouse to help patients obtain financial support.“