Negotiate drug prices on behalf of folks depending on Medicare

Since November 2016, Congress has spent months debating what to do about health care. The debate has been bitterly divisive.

But one issue in the health field is much less divisive — and it also has gotten much less attention. That issue is the rising cost of prescription drugs.

Over the last 10 years, the average cost for a year’s supply of prescription drugs for someone with a chronic illness has risen to about $11,000. For older Floridians trying to get by on their savings and a modest Social Security benefit, that’s simply unaffordable. The costs can be painful even for those who have health insurance. Some Part D enrollees taking expensive prescription drugs face out-of-pocket costs that exceed $10,000 per year.

Further, some health plans are starting to require patients to pay a percentage of their drug cost rather than a flat copayment. This type of cost sharing, which is directly linked to the often high and growing cost of the drug, can blow huge holes in an older Floridian’s carefully balanced budget.

And if you need newly developed drugs to fight cancer or another very serious illness, just your share of drug costs could devastate a lifetime’s savings. Some cancer patients are responding by simply walking away from treatment.

Unfortunately, tomorrow’s news on drug prices could be worse. The prices of widely used brand-name drugs rose by an average of 15.5 percent in 2015 alone, and the research pipeline is full of products that will likely command increasingly high prices.

For some drugs, recent price increases are jaw-dropping. Two years ago, Turing Pharmaceuticals acquired the rights to Daraprim, a drug used by HIV and cancer patients to fight infection, and promptly hiked its price from $13.50 to $750 per tablet.

That’s an extreme example, but drug price increases are hardly an uncommon practice. AARP research has shown that 97 percent of widely used brand-name drugs had a price increase that exceeded inflation in 2015. If these trends continue, older Floridians could face painfully high costs — even if they have insurance. And meanwhile, the rising cost of prescription drugs is driving up the cost of health coverage for everyone.

While you can get a lively argument started about any aspect of health care, Americans broadly agree that prescription drugs are too costly. An AARP poll in March 2017 showed three out of four 50-plus Americans, including two out of three voters who supported President Trump in 2016, want Medicare to be able to negotiate drug prices on behalf of its beneficiaries. AARP strongly supports this approach.

To restrain cost increases, AARP has long favored drug importation from Canada or other countries with regulatory and safety standards similar to ours. As part of this effort, it’s important to give the Food and Drug Administration resources and authority to protect patient safety and detect drug counterfeiting and tampering.

Another approach is “transparency in drug pricing,” which focuses on examining the real costs of research, development, distribution and marketing.

Another idea now under discussion is comparative effectiveness research, which provides health-care decision makers with information and insights on the costs, safety and benefits of different treatment options.

The fast-rising cost of prescription drugs has long been a topic of discussion in Washington, but this year the debate has picked up steam.

You can have an influence on the drug-price debate in Washington, just as millions of ordinary people had an impact in blocking action in Congress on health-coverage proposals earlier this summer.

If you are concerned about the high cost of drugs, let your member of Congress know by calling 844-453-9952 toll-free. If enough Floridians put pressure on Congress, elected leaders will respond. Whatever proposals surface, you can be sure that AARP will continue to fight to bring down the costs of the prescription drugs you need to live a long, healthy life.

If enough Floridians put pressure on Congress, elected leaders will respond.