I agree with an important point made in a recent op-ed penned by AARP’s Lucretia Young — drug prices are objectively too high in this county. But I am fiercely opposed to the idea that allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices is the right way to lower costs for patients at the pharmacy counter. And most Americans agree with me. In fact, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 65% of Americans oppose negotiation if it leads to less research and development of new treatments or if it limits people’s access to medicines once they come to market
And this is exactly what policies that allow Medicare negotiation could do. By allowing the government to interfere in negotiation, the government would heavily control medicine availability for our most vulnerable patients – seniors and this with disabilities.
Instead of potentially restricting medication access via negotiation, lawmakers should instead look to cap annual out-of-pocket costs for patients, or lower cost sharing. These are ways we can make medication more affordable without negatively impacting patient access.