Representatives from the pharmaceutical and health insurance industries debated the potential outcomes of drug-pricing proposals Oct. 30 at the Milken Future of Health Summit in Washington, D.C., according to STAT.
The debate focused on a recent report from the Congressional Budget Office that estimated House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's drug-pricing bill would reduce the number of new drugs approved by as many as 15 over the course of a decade.
Matt Eyles, CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans, a Washington, D.C.-based insurance lobby, reportedly disagreed with the CBO prediction.
"If your lifeblood is inventing new cures, if your sole purpose for being is developing new drugs, are you going to stop the development? I think it will change some of the calculations about where investment is made. I’m not sure I entirely agree with the conclusion that will absolutely lead to fewer drugs down the road," Mr. Eyles reportedly said.
Dan Leonard, CEO of industry-backed policy research organization National Pharmaceutical Council, disagreed with Mr. Eyles.
"It’s pretty basic mathematics. There’s a percentage of the revenue from the pharmaceutical company that goes back into R&D, so if the revenue is cut, the R&D budget will be cut," Mr. Leonard reportedly said.
The panel did, however, agree that drug prices need to be lowered somehow.
Seema Verma, CMS administrator, reportedly said the Trump administration is prepared to act unilaterally if Congress can't agree on a bill to lower prices.
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