Brand-name drugmakers took some voluntary actions in an effort to get out ahead of any plans the Trump administration may have to force companies to provide the list prices of their products in television commercials directed toward consumers.
Stephen Ubl, president and CEO of the drug lobbying group the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said his organization's member companies, such as Merck & Co. Inc., Pfizer Inc. and Eli Lilly and Co., will voluntarily include information in their consumer television advertisements that direct patients where they may find publicly accessible drug list price information.
He said the ads also would include information about where to find out-of-pocket and other cost details, along with financial assistance offers.
Ubl said the changes to the TV commercials will begin in the coming months and are intended to follow new voluntary guidelines established earlier this month by PhRMA's board.
Under the new guidelines, all direct-to-consumer TV advertising that identifies a medicine by name should include where patients may find information about the cost of the product, such as on a company-developed website that includes the list price and average, estimated or typical patient out-of-pocket costs or other context about the potential cost of the medicine, PhRMA said in an Oct. 15 statement.
The group said all of its current members have signed on to the new principles, which go into effect April 15, 2019.
PhRMA said it also partnered with various consumer, patient, pharmacist and provider groups to develop a new patient "affordability platform" with an "enhanced search tool" where list price and other cost information can be found.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, however, called the PhRMA action a "small step," saying the administration plans to "go further."
"The drug industry remains resistant to providing real transparency around their prices, including the sky-high list prices that many patients pay," Azar said in an Oct. 15 statement ahead of a late-afternoon speech at the National Academy of Medicine in Washington, D.C., where he is expected to address the drug pricing topic.
Azar, a former Lilly executive, has said he believes he has the authority to force drugmakers to disclose their list prices in consumer ads.
"Our vision for a new, more transparent drug-pricing system does not rely on voluntary action," he stated.
Forcing companies
As part of the administration's blueprint to lower drug prices, the HHS chief charged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in May with evaluating whether the administration could force drugmakers to disclose pricing information in their advertising.
Disclosing that information "is an important part of fair balance," Azar told reporters in May.
Analysts surmised that an HHS proposal entitled "Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Regulation to Require Drug Pricing Transparency" — which has been under review by The United States Office of Management and Budget since Aug. 21 — was intended as the pathway to put the advertisement requirement into place.
"While we cannot comment on pending regulations, the president's 'American Patients First' blueprint to lower prescription drug prices and reduce out-of-pocket costs clearly states that HHS is looking at options to require drug pricing transparency. It should not come as a surprise that this would require rulemaking," HHS spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley told S&P Global Market Intelligence in an Oct. 12 emailed response.
Ubl, however, insisted on the voluntary action to include some directions for consumers on where to locate list prices represented a "big change for our companies and it will require significant operational changes for individual companies to implement."
"We believe this is the right thing to do and is an important step toward providing patients with the information they want," he said.
PhRMA said just including list prices in TV advertisements was not sufficient and could discourage patients from seeking needed medical care.
"List prices are not a good indicator of what a patient will pay at the pharmacy counter and do not reflect the substantial discounts and rebates negotiated by insurers and pharmacy benefit managers," the group stated.
PhRMA also said requiring companies to list their prices could result in "significant legal issues, including First Amendment concerns."