SECOND OPINION: BIG PHARMA DOUBLES DOWN ON BLAME GAME STRATEGY AMID UNPRECEDENTED MOMENTUM TO LOWER RX PRICES

New PhRMA Ad Campaign Aims to Dodge Accountability, Push Pharma-Backed Rebate Rule That Would Hike Health Care Premiums, Boost Drug Company Profits

The pharmaceutical industry is doubling down on a misleading blame game strategy meant to deflect accountability for the industry’s own egregious practices amid unprecedented momentum in Washington to lower prescription drug prices.

A new, seven-figure ad campaign from Big Pharma’s principal trade association, the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), attempts to shift the attention of policymakers onto pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and others in the drug supply chain. The ad campaign uses misleading rhetoric to draw attention away from brand name drug companies pricing and anti-competitive practices and instead pushes lawmakers to reverse course, and implement, rather than repeal, a policy called the Rebate Rule that would do nothing to lower drug prices, hike premiums on America’s seniors and boost Big Pharma profits.

Implementation of such a policy targeting PBM rebates would also eliminate the only real check on the pharmaceutical industry’s unilateral control over prices. That is why the Rebate Rule has been a key policy component of Big Pharma’s blame game strategy of dodging accountability for the industry’s egregious pricing practices and pointing a finger at others in the supply chain for years.

The fact is brand name drug companies are solely responsible for setting and hiking list prices on their products and Congress must remain focused on solutions that hold Big Pharma accountable to lower drug prices for the American people.

Here are the facts on the Rebate Rule policy pushed by Big Pharma in the industry’s new ad campaign.

The rule would do nothing to lower out-of-control prescription drug prices:

It would increase premiums for Medicare Part D beneficiaries:
It could even increase Part D beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket costs:
Its implementation would cost taxpayers at least $200 billion in increased spending:
And it would hand the pharmaceutical industry a more than $130 billion bailout in boosted revenues:

Lawmakers must cut through Big Pharma’s blame game rhetoric, repeal the Pharma-backed Rebate Rule and advance market-based solutions to lower prescription drug prices by holding brand name drug companies accountable.

Learn more about the misguided Rebate Rule HERE.

Read more on market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable and lower prescription drug prices HERE.

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