BIO survey rebuts Part D price negotiation plan

The USA's Biotechnology Industry Organization has released figures which claim that the Medicare Part D prescription drug plans "offer significant discounts on single-source therapies and provide greater access to many single-source innovative therapies [that are] not available through the Department of Veterans Affairs pharmacy benefit or mail-order pharmacies such as Costco.com and drugstore.com." The BIO argues that the study it conducted rebuts claims made by Senators Olympia Snowe (Republican, Maine) and Ron Wyden (Democrat, Oregon) in January, that Costco and drugstore.com offer cheaper prescription drug prices than Medicare Part D providers "without limiting the drugs available."

The BIO's president, Jim Greenwood, said: "Medicare beneficiaries are saving an average of $1,200 per year on the cost of medication and a vast majority are satisfied with the plan they chose" (Marketletters passim). He added that the group's survey "underscores our belief that mandatory government negotiation under Part D is unnecessary and would likely reduce patient access to innovative therapies without providing significant savings to seniors or to the government." The study was carried out by taking a sample of 25 patented drugs and biologics, none of which are among the most commonly-prescribed to senior citizens, but which represent "the industry's latest innovative treatments for rare cancers, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS and multiple sclerosis," according to the BIO.

Medicare Part D: pay less, more choice