Kohl-Grassley generic drug bill would save US taxpayers nearly $4.8 billion, says CBO

A new estimate from the USA’s Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate finds that a bipartisan bill aimed at cutting costs by encouraging competition from generic drugs would save taxpayers nearly $4.8 billion over the next decade.

The CBO anticipates that enacting the Preserve Access to Affordable Generic Drugs Act (S 27) would accelerate the availability of lower-priced generic drugs and generate $4.785 billion in budget savings between fiscal years 2012 and 2021. The CBO also estimates that earlier entry of generic drugs affected by the bill would reduce total drug expenditures in the USA by roughly $11 billion over the decade.

Previously, the CBO estimated that the bill would save the federal government - which pays approximately one-third of all prescription costs - $2.68 billion over 10 years. US President Barack Obama included a provision to end pay-for-delay settlements in his fiscal 2012 budget and estimated it would save the federal government $8 billion over ten years.