PRESS STATEMENT: New Report Shows Medicare Spending Increase Driven By Specialty Drug Prices

For Immediate Release
July 22, 2015

Contact:
John Rother
[email protected]

New Report Shows Medicare Spending Increase Driven By Specialty Drug Prices

Washington, D.C. – This afternoon, the Medicare Trustees released their annual report, which predicts that the Medicare trust fund will remain solvent until 2030. The report attributes much of the growth in Medicare Part D spending to the soaring costs of specialty medications.

In response to this afternoon’s report, John Rother, president of the National Coalition on Health Care and leader of the Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing, issued the following statement:

“Contrary to the claims from pharmaceutical companies that their astronomical prices don’t drive spending, the latest Medicare trustees report points to an alarming 10.9% increase in the cost of Part D drug coverage in the past year primarily due to new and expensive specialty drugs. Unfortunately, this is just a taste of even higher costs to come. It’s now time to get serious about the need to keep drug prices sustainable. We call for all stakeholders, including drugmakers, to come to the table and identify new ways to reward innovation without bankrupting our health care system.”