WASHINGTON, DC (July 25, 2019): The Council for Affordable Health Coverage (CAHC) spoke out today ahead of the Senate Finance Committee’s markup of the Drug Pricing Reduction Act of 2019 to endorse an amendment offered by Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA).
The Toomey Amendment #1 would strike the bill’s mandatory rebate penalties for certain drugs with price increases rising faster than inflation in Medicare Part D. CAHC previously explained that such rebate penalties “make Medicare Part D look more like Medicaid” and threaten to “undermine well-working parts of the Part D program.”
“The Toomey Amendment #1 represents the Committee’s best opportunity to ensure Part D continues as a market-based program that relies on private negotiations to lower drug costs,” said CAHC President Joel White. “The original legislation’s gimmicky mandatory inflation rebates are a price control scheme, plain and simple. This threatens to crowd out privately negotiated rebates and remove plan sponsors’ incentive to manage drug spending.”