Manufacturers: Let’s Tackle Health Care Costs Without Sacrificing Innovation or Competitiveness
Fix the Real Problem: Unregulated PBMs
Washington, D.C. – National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons released the following statement today in response to President Trump’s executive order instituting a “Most Favored Nation” policy for prescription drug pricing:
“Biopharmaceutical manufacturers are investing in America. They are innovating cures and treatments for devastating diseases, and they are committed to ensuring that patients can access these life-changing and lifesaving medicines.
“Obstacles to innovation abound. It costs more than $2 billion to bring a new treatment to market, and it can take more than a decade to do so. Nearly 90% of all potential drugs that enter clinical trials never make it to FDA approval, and unregulated middlemen like pharmacy benefit managers drive up the costs of any drugs that are approved. Despite these challenges, biopharmaceutical manufacturers in America are leading the world.
“Manufacturers agree with President Trump that it is vital that Americans have affordable access to lifesaving treatments. That’s why the NAM has for years called on Congress to rein in PBMs. These powerful actors dictate what Americans pay at the pharmacy counter and drive rising health care costs for manufacturers and manufacturing workers alike.
“Importing European-style price controls won’t help Americans access medicines or make them cheaper. Rather, these policies will dampen innovation and R&D, threaten patient access and empower bureaucrats abroad to undermine America’s health system.
“Let’s not punish the innovators who develop and manufacture lifesaving medicines. Instead, let’s tackle the real problem: the middlemen. PBMs make billions by limiting patient choices, inflating prices and pushing costs higher for everyone—without actually making or delivering a single pill.
“Manufacturers are committed to lowering costs and expanding access to care—and to working with the administration to build on the PBM reforms in the Energy and Commerce Committee’s reconciliation bill with patient-first solutions that reduce costs, restore fairness and strengthen American competitiveness.”
-NAM-
The National Association of Manufacturers is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing employs nearly 13 million men and women, contributes $2.93 trillion to the U.S. economy annually and accounts for 53% of private-sector research and development. The NAM is the powerful voice of the manufacturing community and the leading advocate for a policy agenda that helps manufacturers compete in the global economy and create jobs across the United States. For more information about the NAM or to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org.