PhRMA comments on Medicare Rights Center paper

“Finding viable solutions to contain Medicare costs is critically important, but imposing price controls in Medicare would hurt the millions of seniors who rely on the Part D program to access the medicines they need,” said Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) senior vice president, communications, Robert Zirkelbach, in response to a Medicare Rights Center paper, titled Winning Strategy for Medicare Savings: Better Prices on Prescription Drugs.

This claims that the most straightforward option for securing savings on Medicare prescription drugs involves simply restoring a discount that used to exist. Prior to the creation of the Medicare prescription drug benefit, the federal government benefited from discounts on prescription medicines for people covered by both Medicare and Medicaid. Reinstating this discount would create considerable savings for Medicare-an estimated $141.2 billion over 10 years, the report notes.

According to PhRMA, these policies would fundamentally alter the competitive nature of the program that has led to its success and could increase beneficiary premiums, cause job loss, and reduce incentives for innovation.