HHS has 90 days to formulate plans to lower prescription drug prices, according to an executive order President Joe Biden signed Oct. 14.
With price hikes for more than 1,200 drugs surpassing the 8.5 percent inflation rate between July 2021 and July 2022, the Biden administration pointed to HHS' Innovation Center to create drug pricing reforms and "provide additional breathing room for American families," the administration said in a statement.
"On average, Americans pay two to three times as much as people in other countries for prescription drugs, and 1 in 4 Americans who take prescription drugs struggle to afford their medications," according to the White House, and nearly 30 percent of Americans "who take prescription drugs say that they have skipped doses, cut pills in half, or not filled prescriptions due to cost."
The executive order builds on the Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed in August to limit out-of-pocket costs for insulin, implement tax penalties for drugmakers that raise their medication prices faster than inflation rates and five other provisions aimed at reducing drug prices. The IRA will be fully implemented in four years.