Brown aiming to keep prescription prices low
WASHINGTON — “Too many Ohioans…struggle to afford prescription drugs,” Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown believes, who also claims these drugs have “no reason to be as expensive as they are other than corporate greed.”
Brown discussed his work securing a commitment from Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), to make it easier for community pharmacies to lower drug prices for Ohioans by addressing direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fees.
He and Ernest Boyd, executive director of the
Ohio Pharmacists Association, spoke via teleconference with reporters Wednesday to highlight the Senate’s efforts to lower drug prices and increase transparency with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and to support community pharmacies and the patients they serve.
“With so many seniors on fixed incomes worried about rising drug prices, we need to stop these corporate middlemen from making the problem worse,” said Brown. “Prescription drugs are also often among the most overpriced products people buy. There is no reason most of these drugs need to be as expensive as they are, and this is an important step forward to lower costs for older Ohioans.”
Those fees, Brown said, are often responsible for the increase in the cost of prescription drugs, which in turn can put small pharmacies out of business. A small pharmacies attempt to pass along the cost can often price themselves out of the market when consumers have a choice.
But small pharmacies should be protected, Boyd said, especially in the continuing days of the pandemic.
Pharmacists in all locations are
now charged with helping community members transverse COVID-19, from providing information to providing vaccinations, in addition to all other responsibilities attached to a person in that position.
“We need pharmacies to exist to serve our communities,” Boyd said.
“Prescription drug prices are higher, and pharmacies are being closed, due to the pricing practices of the PBMs. Thousands of independent and chain pharmacies have closed their doors, when the public needs greater access to pharmacists, not less. Senator Brown, through his efforts to rein in unreasonable fees, will help reduce drug costs, and help pharmacists continue to provide critical services to their patients.”
In October, Brown, alongside Senators Jon Tester (D-MT), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and James Lankford (R-OK), sent a letter urging CMS to either work with Congress to eliminate direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fees to help lower prescription drug prices for Medicare Part D beneficiaries or take administrative action to address the problem. CMS committed to taking action in its response to the Senators’ letter.
Brown urged those listening to watch the CMS to ensure they follow through on their promise to help lower drug prices.
CMS has the authority to take many steps on its own to curb these fees. Over the coming weeks and months, Brown said he will be monitoring the work CMS is doing to ensure the agency follows through on its promise to bring down these fees, and save Ohioans money at the pharmacy.