In Law360, Health Care Partner Examines Upcoming Federal Drug Pricing Initiatives

Health care partner Tom Bulleit (Washington, D.C.) was quoted in a Law360 article published August 30 that examines key upcoming health care and biopharmaceutical policy debates.

The article discusses key federal regulatory and Congressional initiatives on drug pricing, including the International Pricing Index that the Trump administration has indicated it will propose to lower the cost of Medicare Part B drugs; the U.S. Senate Finance Committee’s Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act; and promised legislation from the U.S. House of Representatives that would adopt some form of IPI or even authorize direct price negotiations between Medicare and drug makers.

Mr. Bulleit suggests that neither legislation providing for direct negotiation nor IPI is likely to have sufficient support to pass the Republican-controlled Senate. His prediction is that the most potentially-impactful measure that has that chance would be a provision in the Senate bill requiring manufacturers to pay rebates to Medicare for drugs whose list prices rise faster than the rate of inflation.