Joe Grogan, the former director of Trump’s Domestic Policy Council, told Breitbart News in an interview on Thursday that the alleged benefits of the Biden-Harris drug price negotiations are “Soviet-style price controls” and any alleged savings are “totally bogus.”
The inflation Reduction Act provided for the ability for Medicare to negotiate the prices of certain pharmaceuticals, to which the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) selected the first ten drugs covered under Medicare Part D, and the negotiated prices would be available for Medicare receipts in 2026.
The Biden-Harris administration claims that its negotiation tactics would result in $6 billion in savings for these ten drugs, and potentially save Medicare beneficiaries $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs.
However, many outlets such as Politico have noted that it may be hard for the Harris campaign to tout these alleged savings as a victory, as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), rebates, out-of-pocket caps, and other expenses all play a part in how much Americans pay for prescription drugs.
“Together, these factors make it difficult to decipher how the White House’s estimate of $6 billion in Medicare savings will affect average Americans,” Politico wrote on Thursday. Further, the Biden-Harris administration will not say the actual prices are due to the rebates they negotiated and are confidential, which makes it impossible to see how much the negotiations actually worked.
Grogan, who led many of the Trump administration efforts on health care, told Breitbart News that the Inflation Reduction “has destroyed Medicare Part D.” He also compared to the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to bail out Medicare Part D premiums with billions of dollars to putting a “tourniquet on a mortal wound.”
Grogan said that the purported $6 billion savings figure touted by the administration is “totally bogus” and a “made up number” because it compares the savings from the list price of the drug to their negotiated price, whereas many private entities such as insurers and PBMs work to lower the price of drugs.
He added that the Biden-Harris administration is “doubling down on Soviet price controls.”
Coincidentally, reports suggest that Harris on Friday will unveil price controls on food and grocery prices, which will form a central part Harris’s economic agenda.
The Wall Street Journal noted that pharmaceutical companies are not sweating the drug price negotiations.
Johnson & Johnson for instance, had three of its drugs selected for negotiations; however, they still expect positive growth.
“We have received the final numbers from the government,” J&J Executive Vice President Jennifer Taubert explained. “And while we are not in alignment with the IRA…those numbers have been included in the guidance that we provided last year…that still looks very good to us today.”
“In fact, our analysis shows that negotiations by PBMs already secure deeper discounts on six of the 10 drugs chosen by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS),” The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) said in a statement on Thursday.
“The key to reducing drug costs is to increase competition among manufacturers. We encourage the Administration to focus on those drugs where a lack of competition is driving higher prices and higher costs, and to allow PBM negotiations to continue to deliver value and savings for Medicare.”
Noting that Harris was the tie-breaking vote to pass the Inflation Reduction Act through the Senate, Grogan said that the bill has done nothing but “drive inflation.”
Vice President Harris casts the Tie-Breaking Vote to Pass the Inflation Reduction Act
Two years ago today, I proudly cast the tie-breaking vote to pass our Inflation Reduction Act. Here’s what it means for the American people:☑️ Insulin capped at $35 a month for seniors☑️ The largest investment in climate action in history☑️ Over $1 billion in unpaid taxes collected from 1,600 millionaires so far☑️ Prescription drug costs for those on Medicare capped at $2,000 a year☑️ The creation of an estimated 1.5 million jobs in the next decade
Posted by Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday, August 7, 2024
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.