Lawmakers push back on Obama drug pricing initiative

A group of 242 lawmakers is calling on the Obama administration to scrap a proposal aimed at fighting high drug prices. 

{mosads}The proposal to change how Medicare pays for certain drugs has been controversial, drawing concern from both sides of the aisle in Congress. 

However, only four House Democrats joined the letter on Monday calling for a complete end to the program. Democratic leadership had been working to get Democrats to sign a different letter, which expressed concerns but called for changes to the program rather than simply ending it. 

The four Democrats signing the Republican-led letter are Reps. Brad Ashford (Neb.), Dutch Ruppersberger (Md.), Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), and Collin Peterson (Minn.).

At issue is a five-year pilot program that would change the way Medicare Part B pays for drugs. 

Currently, Medicare Part B pays doctors the average price of a drug, plus 6 percent. The administration warns that system gives doctors an incentive to prescribe higher cost drugs, so they can get paid more. The pilot program would reduce the 6 percent add-on to 2.5 percent, plus a flat fee of about $16. 

The letter Monday warns that the program could harm patients by limiting their access to treatments if doctors’s costs to acquire drugs become higher than what Medicare reimburses for them. 

The lawmakers also object that the changes are being put forward without a say by Congress. 

Democrats have expressed similar concerns in their letters, while calling for changes instead of a termination of the program. Every Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee signed a letter last week calling for changes before the proposal goes forward. 

“This experiment affects all our constituents, Democrat or Republican, and we believe that Congress, whose responsibility is to the electorate, is best tasked with making these decisions, not an unaccountable entity,” the Republican-led letter states. 

The letter was led by Reps. Tom Price (R-Ga.), John Shimkus (R-Ill.), and Charles Boustany (R-La.), and also received the endorsements of Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.). 

The Obama administration has been defending its proposal, which could be finalized this summer. Officials have been sending out links to editorials and endorsements in favor of the moves. 

Twenty-five organizations, including the AARP, the AFL-CIO, and Aetna, released a joint letter on Monday in support of the proposal, writing that it “appropriately focuses on changing prescriber behavior while ensuring that Medicare beneficiaries can maintain access to the medications that they need.”

Other powerful groups are lined up against the proposal, including the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and the association representing cancer doctors. 

Brady, the Ways and Means Chairman, expressed his opposition to the proposal in a statement accompanying the Republican-led letter. 

“The 242 members on this letter are making clear that we object to this experiment, and will act to protect America’s seniors and their healthcare,” Brady said.