Experts say Medicaid rebate change is behind inhaler price cuts

“We know that people were dying because they weren’t getting insulin,” she said, “which suggests to me that copay coupons and patient assistance programs aren’t reaching people to the extent that you want them to be reached.”

Public pressure

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, singled out the four major manufacturers in January as part of an investigation into inhaler prices. On Friday, he took a victory lap in the wake of the drugmakers’ announcements to cap copays, saying “they’re beginning to catch on to the fact that the American people are sick and tired of paying astronomical prices for the prescription drugs they need to stay alive.”

He acknowledged that the companies are only lowering list prices on some products but stressed the importance of the copay caps to patients. He also attributed the drug companies’ announcements to the committee’s investigation and public backlash, rather than Medicaid’s rebate program.

“In this instance, we think it’s public pressure,” he said.

Additionally, Sanders urged the last of the four major manufacturers that hasn’t capped copays, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., to follow suit. The company is smaller and more focused on generics, he said, but he hoped Teva executives would come around.

“They are considering it,” he said.

Teva did not respond to requests for comment.

In November, the Federal Trade Commission warned a number of drugmakers, including Teva and the other major inhaler manufacturers, that they had improperly listed patents in the Food and Drug Administration’s registry known as the Orange Book, which can help block competition from generic rivals.

Teva was one of several companies that refused to pull any of the patents the FTC challenged. On Friday, the FTC took another step against the manufacturer, filing an amicus brief in a patent infringement suit Teva brought against Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc. for attempting to bring a generic version of its ProAir HFA to market. The FTC argues the patents that Teva is claiming are improperly listed.

The issues underscore the broader dynamics that lawmakers and regulators still face in unwinding the tangled drug pricing system. The copay caps are good for patients, Feldman said, but not nearly enough.

“It’s a Band-Aid on a problematic drug pricing system in our country,” he said.

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