As Big Pharma once again peddles a self-serving agenda targeting cost-savings in the prescription drug marketplace called rebates, it’s critically important to remember similar policies to the pharma-backed “delinking” proposal being pushed now have been floated and rejected in the past, including by President Trump.

Just like they are now with “delinking,” Big Pharma supported a policy called the Rebate Rule in 2019, that also targeting cost-savings secured by market forces in health care for seniors who rely on Medicare Part D for their prescription drug coverage.

President Trump rightly recognized such a proposal would be a win for Big Pharma paid for by increased health care costs for seniors.

President Trump made the same call again a year later, recognizing pharma-backed proposals targeting rebates would hike health care premiums for seniors, and boost profits for Big Pharma.

Now, the pharmaceutical industry is once again trying to get lawmakers to undermine rebates in the prescription drug marketplace, this time by targeting market-based incentives that encourage pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to successfully secure cost concessions in the form of rebates from drug companies.

Any policy that has the full backing of the pharmaceutical industry, including millions of dollars in advertising and lobbying, should cause pause for policymakers to ask the question: Who really benefits from this type of policy?

Big Pharma’s latest ad spend, one of the many advertising campaigns focused on undermining market forces in health care and competition by targeting PBMs, asks Congress to pass “delinking” policies. A recent Axios article highlighted that, “PhRMA will be “laser-focused” on getting PBM changes passed in the lame duck session.

This is because the policy is just another way for drug companies to pad their pockets at the expense of the American people.

Casey Mulligan, Ph.D., former chief economist for the Council of Economic Advisers in the Trump Administration, concluded this policy’s implementation in the Medicare Part D program would result in health care premium hikes of $13 billion for seniors, and a massive $10 billion profit windfall for drug companies.

The concept of “delinking” came from drug companies themselves. In a 2018 letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), PhRMA wrote, “We suggest that any reforms of the safe harbors be undertaken with the goal of delinking compensation based on list price (including both fees and rebates) throughout the supply chain, and not focus solely on rebates.” 

Big Pharma has gotten support for these schemes from the Left because “delinking” and other policies that target PBMs increase government interference in the market.

Republicans should oppose “delinking” in any form. Proposals for the policy in the Medicare Part D program would hike costs for seniors and taxpayers to boost Big Pharma’s profits.

Congress should not allow Big Pharma and the Left to pass “delinking” in an end-of-year spending package that would leave the incoming Trump Administration and GOP Congress to grapple with the fallout from increased health care costs for seniors.

Learn more about Big Pharma’s “delinking” scheme that would saddle patients and taxpayers with higher health care costs to bail out big drug companies HERE.