WASHINGTON, DC (October 17, 2017): The Council for Affordable Health Coverage (CAHC) – a coalition of employers, insurers, brokers, agents, patient groups, and physician organizations which unveiled its Prescriptions for Affordability initiative to address prescription drug access and affordability earlier this year – responded today to the Senate HELP Committee’s hearing on prescription drug costs, entitled “The Cost of Prescription Drugs: How the Drug Delivery System Affects What Patients Pay, Part II.”
CAHC submitted comments for the record to the Senate HELP Committee in advance of today’s hearing and released the following statement:
“CAHC thanks Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray for their continued focus on prescription drug affordability and access,” said CAHC President Joel White. “While we appreciated the goals of today’s hearing, too often it devolved into the finger-pointing across industries and politicians that has come to typify the prescription drug debate and does absolutely nothing to lower costs for consumers. Instead of placing blame and stoking controversy, we encourage policymakers to rally around bipartisan, actionable solutions like those in our Prescriptions for Affordability blueprint, which can reduce health costs by up to $71 billion a year.”
White continued, “By promoting value-based arrangements and value-based insurance design, reforming pricing models like ‘Medicaid best-price’ that stifle payment innovation, standardizing clinical data, and improving tools that empower consumers to take charge of their own health, we can put market forces to work making a meaningful difference in the lives of patients who need it most. We have already done the work of coalescing all factions of the healthcare industry around this plan, and we invite Senators to join us in that effort.”
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Background:
The Council for Affordable Health Coverage (CAHC) is a broad-based alliance with a primary focus: bringing down the cost of health care for all Americans. CAHC promotes policies that lower health costs through increased competition, informed consumers and more choices to help promote access to affordable coverage. Learn more at CAHC.net.
CAHC unveiled its Prescriptions for Affordability initiative on May 17th, as reported in Politico, Washington Examiner, Modern Healthcare, and others. The proposal offers a blueprint for lowering prescription drug costs supported by drug manufacturers, insurers, pharmacy benefit managers, patient advocates, and employer groups.