As a new year beckons, there is considerable anticipation that many drug makers will vigorously lift a self-imposed moratorium on price hikes that began last summer in response to political pressure from President Trump. After all, the pharmaceutical industry traditionally boosts prices in January in order to meet financial goals. Moreover, White House efforts to staunch rising drug costs have yielded few gains.
Already, a few companies have signaled higher prices are coming, but what might these look like?
One analyst is offering a guide: Roughly two-thirds of medicines that are closely tracked by payers due to cost are expected to rise between 7 percent and 9 percent next month. And wholesale prices for drugs that are administered by physicians should increase by about 3 percent.
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It seems like the drug manufacturers are almost begging for some kind of government intervention … a bizarre maneuver for short-term shareholder gain.