Critics proven wrong again on medicine spending

Recent comments from pharmacy benefit managers and insurers disprove – once again – the fallacious claims previously made about spending on new innovative medicines. Over the past year, payers claimed life-changing treatments and cures for hepatitis C and high cholesterol would bankrupt the health care system and wreak financial havoc.

Yet just last week, Express Scripts, the largest pharmacy benefits manager in the U.S., proudly tweeted “Hepatitis C is the first example where price is lower in the U.S. vs. Western Europe because of our negotiations.” And in October, they touted they can include both new cholesterol-lowering medicines, called PCSK9 inhibitors, on its national list of covered medicines thanks in part to
substantial – and typical – discounts negotiated. 

These statements undermine the claims Express Scripts and other payers made that new medicines would force them to consider whether or not they can even sustain the pharmacy benefit they provide to their members.