Prescription Drug Pricing and Political Activism

Executive summary
Introduction
The ever-increasing cost of medication is a central concern in many forums. The media and the politicians have not failed to notice it either. Over 25 bills and numerous committees were set up to investigate the matter in 2017. While the issue of pricing has not attracted homogenous views, the efforts to increase competition on the market have drawn attention from across the divide. The FDA Reauthorization Act of 2017, which sailed through in both houses quite easily, identified quick route to allow some generics if it is determined by the secretary that the generic competition is not adequate (Mody and Blackwood, 2018). In the recent Health, Pensions, Labour and Education by the Senate hearing, members from both sides agreed with the need for competition and to thwart anti competition practices. They agreed that it was important to introduce generics and biosimilars to the market whenever it is determined appropriate to do so. They also mentioned that pay-for delay agreements should be abolished.
Approaches and results
i. Improving price transparency
While increasing transparency will not by itself fully reduce the price of prescription drugs, laws that enforce transparency practices are still required. Such laws will not only shame pharmaceutical dealers who increase prices without due consideration but also lay a basis for future reform in the sector. The bills before the houses in the various states differ in their utility and thoroughness. The states of Nevada and California signed into law bills designed to curb the prescription drugs price escalation. One of the laws, in Nevada, requires that those who prices insulin must justify the price increase above a certain amount. The law demands that the insulin manufacturers and dealers report the input-output dynamics including the profits that they make every year (Benavides, 2018). The transparency on the part of the Pharmacy Benefit managers increases. PBMs are the ones that negotiate the rice of prescription drugs on behalf of large pharmaceuticals, insurance companies and employers. Donations from pharmaceutical companies and other players are made public, thanks to interventions by patient advocacy groups.
ii. Price negotiation
There is a need for federal agencies to get into negotiation for contracts on drugs that are covered. Such a move to would help the government to position itself in a better purchasing position for a purchase of such prescription drugs at lower prices. The benefits will be felt by the health sector and the consumer. Competition is encouraged in the paper and has the end goal of facilitating easier access to prescription drugs and medication n general. The prices of the most expensive drugs would then be tracked by the relevant agencies in government. The authorities would then seek to establish form the pharmaceutical companies why such drugs are so expensive, with a view to revising the pricing downwards. The government would then use a proviso in the law to make sure that prices do not exceed a certain limit; in the case of any drugs found to be overpriced (Huelskoetter, 2018; Benavides, 2018). Such a capping by the authorities would serve as the upper limit.
iii. Addressing price gouging
Policy makers, as s well as the patients are alarmed by the practice by drug companies to increases the prices way above the rate of inflation. A few states have decided t empower their Attorney Generals to investigate and identify drug manufacturers who engaged in the practice of inflating even the price of generics (Huelskoetter, 2018). The attorney general in such states is empowered by the law to sue the companies that flout the price limits for drugs. The state could, among other things require that such a company lowers the price of the drug to the required reasonable level, and even that he company offers rebates to those who paid for the drugs at the specified excess price. The possibility of other fines also exists.
iv. Importation
Importation of high quality prescription medicine should also be allowed. This should happen, especially when the prices of such drugs from other countries is below the local price. A lot of specialty medicine is priced way higher in the US than it is in other countries. For example the price of Copaxone is over 287% of what it is sold in Switzerland (Cox et al., 2016). Although proposals in forwarded to the senate on the matter of re-importation were beaten down, the matter should be revisited; for the sake of taming the prices of drugs.
Conclusion
Policy makers and consumer advocacy groups at both the federal level and the state can work in liaison to ensure that the prices of critical drugs are kept in check. While the pharmaceutical lobby is clearly powerful; with its immense financial resources, the country only needs political will o overcome the problem.
Implications and recommendations
There are five ways to address the issue of the overly priced prescription medicine
1. The government authorities may want to make information regarding the efficacy of the drugs available so that the consumers make informed choices regarding the drugs that will provide the best value for the ailments they seek to treat
2. To empower pharmacists to substitute expensive drugs with ones that are priced lower but offer similar benefits
3. The FDA could be made to speed up drug approval
4. Importation of drugs from other countries could be allowed if doing so would save on costs on the part of the consumer or when there is a drug shortage locally.
5. Drug manufacturing authorities could force loosening of patents on some drugs, to allow for generic manufacturing
The above measure could help the health sector deal with the ever increasing cost of medication and allow patients to access medicine relatively easily
Eventually, the cost of healthcare would compare relatively better with other developed countries
References
Benavides, L. R. (2018). 2017 Legislative Recap: Important Bills from Nevada's 79th Legislative Session. In Nevada Law Journal Forum (Vol. 2, No. 1, p. 4).
 Cox, C., Kamal, R., Jankiewicz, A. & Rousseau, D. (2016). Recent trends in prescription drug costs. JAMA, 315(13):1326.
Huelskoetter, T. (2018). State Policies to Address Prescription Drug Prices. Center for American Progress.
Mody, P.R. and Blackwood, K. (2018). 5 Health Care Policy Issues to Follow In 2018. Arnord & Porter. Retrieved from https://www.arnoldporter.com/en/perspectives/publications/2018/01/5-health-care-policy-issues-to-follow-in-2018 on 8 November 2018