Pete Buttigieg released a new plan on Monday morning targeting pharmaceutical companies that overcharge for drugs.
CNN reports: ‘The plan, titled “Affordable Medicine for All,” would offset $100 to 200 billion in spending by penalizing pharmaceutical companies that raise prices by more than inflation and by increasing the annual Branded Prescription Drug Fee, a section of the Affordable Care Act that sets an annual fee according to each manufacturers share of drug sales to government programs like Medicare Part D and the VA. The plan also calls on the federal government to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies based on a series of criteria, including “(1) the therapeutic gain offered by the drug, (2) the cost of bringing the therapeutic class of drugs to market, (3) the current costs of treating the indicated disease, and (4) international prices charged for these drugs.” Under his new plan, drug companies who fail to negotiate or leave negotiations before fair prices are agreed face a 65% tax on the company’s sales of the drugs, with an increase of 10 percentage points per quarter until the company complies with negotiations.’
“The first drugs for negotiation will include those to treat diabetes, asthma, arthritis, HIV, and cancer,” according to Buttigieg.
From the Buttigieg campaign site: Pete’s plan will:
- Cut out-of-pocket drug spending for seniors on Medicare by at least 50% by the end of Pete’s first term, including an out-of-pocket cap on prescription drug costs of $200 per month.
- Cap out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs under $250 per month for everyone choosing public coverage under Pete’s Medicare for All Who Want It plan.
- Make co-payments for generic drugs $0 for people with low incomes insured by the public plan, Medicare, and Medicaid.
- Reduce median annual out-of-pocket drug spending for middle-class Americans on Medicare Part D living with cancer by at least $5,1007 and by at least $2,000 for those living with certain immune disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis or multiple sclerosis.8
- Guarantee that no one living with diabetes dies from rationing insulin due to cost.
- Help end the opioid epidemic by dramatically reducing the cost of naloxone, a drug used to reverse opioid overdoses, and other medicines used to treat substance abuse.
