WASHINGTON — A powerful, bipartisan pair of lawmakers introduced new legislation Tuesday that would give the government more power to make sure drug companies play by the rules of the Medicaid program.
It’s the first sign of how the duo, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) intends to use their respective perches at the Senate Finance Committee to lower drug prices. Grassley will chair the committee beginning in January, and Wyden is already its top Democrat. The committee has jurisdiction over Medicare and Medicaid, including oversight of most of the Trump administration’s work to date on the issue of drug prices.
The bill itself was motivated by allegations that the drug company Mylan misclassified its signature epinephrine auto-injector, EpiPen, under the Medicaid program, which resulted in taxpayers spending more money than they should have whenever a Medicaid recipient purchased the product. In August, Mylan settled the allegations for $465 million with the Department of Justice.
As part of my profession and college requirement, I am writing about prescriptive drugs and how we can make it more affordable / accessible to patients and possibly free. I just read the article regarding Senator Grassley and Wyden new bill that will give the HHS more power to recoup monies from misclassified drugs. Can you enlightening or send any further information on this topic.
Also, how can I get in involved in making a change in the prescriptive affordability for all. I search for rallies and research projects but came up empty.
The continuation of focusing on government costs only enables manufacturers to squeeze the balloon more, hiking prices for non government drugs