A draft of President Donald Trump's executive order on drug prices lists several proposals to roll back regulatory hurdles for the pharmaceutical industry, reports The New York Times.
Here are four things to know about the proposals.
- Update global trade agreements. One proposal calls on the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to analyze global drug pricing differences and identify potential revisions to trade agreements "to promote greater intellectual property protection and competition in the global market," according to the order.
- Scale back 340B. The draft proposes scaling back the 340B drug pricing program, which ensures hospitals treating a large proportion of low-income patients can buy medications from drugmakers at a discounted price. The drug industry has long called for stricter oversight to prevent hospitals from abusing the program.
- Push value-based drug pricing. Another proposal seeks to eliminate hurdles for value-based drug pricing, which entails paying drugmakers for a drug based on the medication's success treating a specific patient or disease.
- Limit out-of-pocket costs. One proposal seeks to fix "regulatory or administrative actions" that force Medicare patients to pay list price for drugs when pharmacy benefit managers achieve a lower price from the drug companies, according to the report. A second proposal focuses on regulations "that inappropriately or unfairly contribute to higher prices or cost-sharing for medical products for American patients," the draft reads.
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