Forbes September 6, 2023
The pharmaceutical industry has long anticipated the dreaded day that finally arrived last week. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a list of the first 10 drugs selected for price negotiation by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). By invoking the “nuclear option,” Congress and the Biden Administration achieved through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) what they have long been after politically: to rein in the pharmaceutical industry as a means to try and reduce the high cost of prescription drugs and lower healthcare costs.
On finally “beating” big pharma, President Biden triumphantly said “well, we did it.”
We did not arrive at this ill-conceived legislative outcome overnight, and the government’s regulatory war against big...