Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) President and CEO Mark Merritt recently appeared before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which is reviewing the dramatic increases in prescription drugs.
Merritt's market-based suggestions to resolve the high prices include accelerating Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals of "me-too" formulations and generic drugs to compete with off-patent brands and establish a watch list of off-patent prescription drugs. He also suggested establishing that copay offset programs and coupons are illegal kickbacks for federally subsidized insurance programs. These offsets are currently being examined closely by the Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General.
"The pricing tactics discussed today are just one piece of a much larger puzzle. The key to reducing costs is through competition. The challenge is we need more of it," Merritt said. "There is also a growing use of bait-and-switch copay assistance marketing programs that encourage patients to ignore generics and start on more expensive brand drugs."
The PCMA is an association that represents pharmacy benefit managers, who administer a variety of different prescription drug plans for more than 266 million insured Americans.
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