Dr. Anthony Fauci recently warned that the country’s coronavirus pandemic won’t be under control until the spring of 2022. The Biden administration touts the vaccines, and perhaps new booster shots, as the key ingredient to make it happen. Given that doses are widely available on a voluntary basis, I think most would agree with that sentiment.
While the White House and many members of Congress are rightly putting all their proverbial eggs into the vaccine basket, policy proposals currently being considered in Washington would be an exercise in self-sabotage. Lawmakers are floating ideas that would undermine the very companies that make these pharmaceutical innovations possible.
Exhibit A is the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill. Buried in the package is a provision that would drain research and development budgets that are required to create new lifesaving drugs, therapies, and, yes, vaccines. Proponents are selling the change as a way to lower prescription drug costs accessed through Medicare Part D. But the devil is in the details.
In practice, the policy will implement a price ceiling on domestic pharmaceuticals — a cap that will be based on a proportion of what foreign countries pay for the same product. A good idea in theory if everyone is playing by the same rules, but that’s not the case. Many countries that would be included in the indexing group already have artificially low drug prices because of government-run healthcare systems. If government is the sole buyer of medicine in a country, they hold all the cards and can pay below market price.
Read Full Article »