Lilly CEO calls for a health care policy environment that promotes medical innovation

Regardless of how the Supreme Court rules on the Affordable Care Act, US drug major Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) will continue to advocate for reforms that enhance patient access to good health care and medicines, provide consumer choice through market-based competition, promote prevention and evidence-based disease management, foster future medical innovation, and maintain high standards of quality and safety, said John Lechleiter, chairman, president and chief executive officer of the company.

In a keynote address at the Financial Times US Healthcare and Life Sciences Conference, Dr Lechleiter emphasized the importance of a policy environment that spurs innovation, saying "What's required are health care policies, guided by a long-term perspective, that provide access to a continuing flow of innovative medicines to help meet the growing needs of people around the world."

Dr Lechleiter noted that "Medicines account for only a fraction of health care spending – about 10% in the United States – but they can have a big impact on costs throughout the system." He reviewed dramatic improvements in human health and longevity and reductions in health care costs, resulting from new medicines.