Wyden, Senate Democrats Call on Pharmaceutical Companies to Disclose How Trump Drug Announcements Will Lower Costs in Medicaid
After Several High-Profile Oval Office Events with Donald Trump, Minimal Details Have Been Revealed About If and How Taxpayers and Families Will See Lower Costs
Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today led 7 senators in letters to four major pharmaceutical companies requesting details about how announcements by the companies and Donald Trump will benefit Americans who are struggling with high health care costs and states that are reeling from the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, passed by Republicans earlier this year.
The letters, sent to Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, ask for specific pricing information on which drugs will be affected by the announcements, what the “most favored nation” price is for those drugs, and what state Medicaid programs will pay in the wake of these announcements.
“We write today to seek more information from [company] about which drugs are subject to the Medicaid components of your agreement with the Trump Administration and whether the prices you will make available on these drugs are actually lower than the net pricing states currently receive on the same products in Medicaid,” the senators wrote. “Critical details about the GENEROUS model also remain unclear, including whether manufacturers can seek exemptions for the drugs where this model could potentially have the greatest impact. It is difficult to draw any firm conclusions about what pricing manufacturers will have to offer states under the model and on which drugs.”
Wyden has previously questioned whether Trump’s Oval Office drug pricing announcements will benefit Americans who are facing high health care costs.
The letter was co-signed by Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.; Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; John Hickenlooper, D-Colo.; Chris Murphy, D-Conn.; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; and Michael Bennet, D-Colo.
The letter to Pfizer is here. The letter to AstraZeneca is here. The letter to Novo Nordisk is here. The letter to Eli Lilly is here.
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