Washington, June 3 (IANS) Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr Mehmet Oz on Monday said the Trump administration has added 160 more medicines to its drug-price transparency platform and announced that eligible Medicare beneficiaries will be able to obtain certain weight-loss drugs for $50 a month beginning July 1.
Speaking at a White House briefing, Oz said the administration’s effort to lower prescription drug costs was already producing savings for consumers.
“Almost 1 in 3 Americans, when they go to a pharmacy to pick up a medication that their doctors prescribe for them, leave empty-handed because they can’t afford the medication,” he said.
Oz argued that Americans pay significantly more for medicines than consumers in other countries for the same products manufactured by the same companies.
“Our drug prices are about three times higher on average than the same drugs made in the same facilities and the same American factories, often than they are charging patients overseas in Europe, Asia, and other parts of the world,” he said.
The CMS administrator said the administration negotiated with 17 major pharmaceutical companies and secured agreements under a “most favored nation drug pricing strategy”.
“The Council of Economic Advisers estimated that the benefit of the President’s negotiated program is about $600 billion over the next ten years,” Oz said.
He announced that 160 additional medicines were being added to the administration’s prescription pricing website, bringing the total to more than 750 drugs.
Oz said the platform allows consumers to compare prices before purchasing medicines.
“In the two weeks since we did the last event with the President on this topic, we’ve now up to about 12 million unique visitors to the site, estimated savings are about $500 million,” he said.
The CMS chief also announced reduced costs for Medicare beneficiaries using GLP-1 medicines prescribed for weight loss.”
Starting on July 1st, the patients and beneficiaries on Medicare who are eligible for GLP products, the weight loss products that the President speaks of frequently, will be allowed to obtain those products for $50 a month,” he said.
Oz noted that many of the medicines currently carry list prices exceeding $1,000 a month.
He said broader access to the drugs could help reduce obesity-related conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease, heart disease, and strokes.
Later in the briefing, Oz urged Congress to codify the administration’s drug-pricing agreements, saying the current arrangements would expire after the Trump administration leaves office.
“We still believe it makes sense for Congress to codify what we’ve been able to achieve because it’s been so helpful,” he said.
Oz said the administration’s broader healthcare agenda also includes reforms to pharmacy benefit managers, insurance transparency, and efforts to simplify healthcare pricing for consumers.
“We want plain English insurance policies so you can actually understand the document that you’re being given,” he said.
–IANS
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