June 16, 2015
Kaiser Family Foundation Poll Reinforces Need for Sustainable Drug Pricing
John Rother, President of the National Coalition on Health Care and Chair of the Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing issued the following statement in response to a recent health tracking poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation that found that an overwhelming 76% of Americans blame pharmaceutical companies for the rising cost of medicines.
“Too many new pharmaceuticals are priced so high that our health financing system is at risk. The American public understands that the price set by companies matters and that it drives up health care costs for everyone.”
“We began an effort a year ago to shine a light on the unsustainable pricing practices of pharmaceutical companies around specialty medicines. Since that time we’ve been pleased by the dramatic increase in attention being paid by policymakers and the public to this critical issue. The cost of specialty pharmaceuticals threatens to bankrupt the health care system; that’s why physician, labor, and patient activist groups have joined our effort to call for greater transparency and responsibility in specialty pharmaceutical pricing.”