Administration Announces Drug Makers Increased Prices Faster Than Rate of Inflation on 48 Medicare Part B Drugs in Final Quarter of 2023
Washington, D.C. – The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP) issued a statement Thursday after the Biden-Harris Administration announced that Big Pharma companies increased prices faster than the rate of inflation on 48 Medicare Part B drugs in the last quarter of 2023.
“Big Pharma continues to double-down on a business-as-usual approach to price-gouging the American people, despite positive steps taken by Congress and the Administration to keep price hikes below the rate of inflation,” said CSRxP executive director Lauren Aronson. “We commend the Biden Administration’s continued commitment to holding Big Pharma accountable for price hikes outpacing inflation and encourage the White House and lawmakers to advance critical, market-based solutions to further hold Big Pharma accountable and lower drug prices, including by cracking down on drug companies’ anti-competitive abuse of the patent system.”
A fact sheet released by the White House on Thursday noted more than 750,000 American seniors rely on the prescription drugs, covered by Medicare Part B, that Big Pharma hit with price hikes outpacing inflation this quarter.
A November analysis from the Center for American Progress (CAP) found Big Pharma increased prices on 112 medications above the annual inflation rate in just one month (July) earlier this year. Of the 112 prescription medications that faced price increases above three percent, more than 30 of these were above eight percent. Some of the most egregious price increases include a 34 percent increase by Big Pharma giant Pfizer and its subsidiary Hospira on Lorazepam, an anti-anxiety medication, as well as a 478 percent increase by Blue Water Biotech on Entadfi, a medication that treats benign prostatic hyperplasia.
Read the announcement from the Biden-Harris Administration HERE.
Read more on Big Pharma’s price hikes continuing to outpace inflation HERE.
Read more on bipartisan, market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable HERE.