Hillary Clinton is finally getting a little love from Big Pharma.
The head of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) told The Hill that his group supports the policy floated by the leading Democratic presidential candidate, which would cap an individual’s monthly out-of-pocket prescription drug spending at $250.
“I would say one thing that she has proposed that we would favor is capping out-of-pocket costs,” PhRMA CEO Stephen Ubl said. “I think we have to acknowledge that some patients do face challenges in accessing their medicines.”
The realization of such a proposal would not directly threaten drug manufacturers, of course, since it would just require insurers to pick up a greater share of the tab of increasingly expensive medications. Insurers, of course, are not going to be enthusiastic about such a policy.
Clinton has touted other policies that present a much greater threat to pharmaceutical firms, however.
She has hinted at laws to force drug manufacturers to spend a greater portion of their budgets on research and development and less on marketing, particularly direct-to-consumer advertising that the American Medical Association has proposed barring entirely. While Clinton stops short of proposing an all-out ban, she has said drug companies should not be able to write off the cost of advertising campaigns as a business expense for tax purposes.
Clinton has also urged for a ban on “pay for delay,” in which pharmaceutical companies pay to postpone the introduction of competition from generic versions of their drugs. She has also called for Medicare to negotiate prices with drug-makers as well as to allow the re-importation of drugs from abroad.
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