BIG PHARMA WATCH: BIG PHARMA EXPOSED FOR CONTINUING TO HIKE PRICES FASTER THAN RATE OF INFLATION

HHS & CMS Announce New Penalties That Help Hold Brand Name Drug Companies Accountable for Price Hikes Outpacing Inflation

In case you missed it, on Monday the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced new penalties for the third quarter of 2023 on price hikes outpacing inflation on 43 prescription drugs covered by the Medicare Part B program. Penalties for price hikes outpacing inflation on prescription drugs covered by Medicare Parts B and D were passed into law last year.

While new research confirms millions of Americans continue to face financial uncertainty affording their medications, the new penalties are the latest evidence to demonstrate Big Pharma is plodding along with a business-as-usual approach to price-gouging patients, including hiking prices on brand name prescription drugs faster than the rate of inflation.

Big Pharma hikes prices, often faster than the rate of inflation, on existing products in their portfolios to juice profits, with no corresponding increase in clinical value for patients.

• In just the first two weeks of 2023, Big Pharma hiked prices on nearly 600 brand name prescription drugs, including 16 brand name drug companies whose price hikes exceeded 10 percent.
• A December 2022 analysis from The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) found Big Pharma hiked prices on seven of the top 10 most popular prescription drugs in 2021 with no accompanying increase in clinical value — increasing overall drug spending by $805 million.
• A February 2022 analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) found Big Pharma hiked prices faster than the rate of inflation on 23 of the top 25 most popular prescription drugs in the Medicare Part D program in 2020.

Big Pharma is also increasingly setting out-of-control launch prices on new products:

• A March report from The Wall Street Journal exposed how brand name drug makers are increasingly targeting higher launch prices as a way to circumvent heightened attention around price increases. The analysis found that the median monthly price for a newly approved drug nearly tripled from 2011 to 2022.
• A separate analysis from Reuters found Big Pharma set a record for out-of-control launch prices last year, with the median annual price among drugs newly approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2022 exceeding $200,000.

Read more about the new penalties for price hikes outpacing inflation HERE.

Read more about Big Pharma’s egregious pricing practices and anti-competitive tactics HERE.

Learn more on bipartisan, market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable HERE.