WYDEN PUBLICIZES MEDICARE PRICE NEGOTIATION PLAN; CRITICS SKEPTICAL
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) claims his proposal calling for the government to directly negotiate Medicare drug prices with manufacturers has amassed enough votes to pass the Senate, but congressional sources are skeptical that anything has changed since the bill was narrowly defeated in March.
Wyden announced at a recent press conference that he has picked up additional votes to ensure that S. 239, the Medicare Enhancements for Needed Drugs Act of 2005, would pass the Senate after the bill fell one vote short in March. Sponsored by Wyden and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), the legislation would allow the HHS secretary to negotiate prices with drugmakers in at least two instances: 1) for health plans that require single-provider bidding, also known as "fall-back" plans; and 2) if a private drug plan asks HHS for help in price negotiations.
But congressional sources are questioning whether the proposal has as much support as Wyden claims, arguing that the Senate leadership's concerns about the bill have not changed. Critics of the proposal question whether the HHS' Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has the "political will" to be able to negotiate lower drug prices.
The bill is based on the approach the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) uses to negotiate drug prices for veterans. According to a recent study by the activist group Families USA, the VA is able to obtain drugs at much lower prices than seniors using Medicare. The group recently issued a study that Medicare prices were as much as 58 percent higher than the VA was able to get using direct negotiation with drug companies.
But negotiating prices is not CMS' strength, a Senate source told FDAnews, adding that the pressure on the agency from drug manufacturers to keep prices at present levels will be tremendous. If CMS is able to get prices comparable to the lower rates that the VA gets, these companies would have to give up a lot of their revenues. CMS is "going to cave. They're going to have to," the source added.
But Andrew Blotky, Wyden's spokesman, reiterated that the senator has the support he needs. While Blotky refused to identify the bill's new supporters, he said lawmakers are now willing to support the proposal because of an increasing interest in containing Medicare costs. The plan is a "practical solution" to rising drug prices, Blotky added.