Policies to Address the Problem of High Cost of Prescription Drugs in the United States
The increasing price of prescription drugs in the U.S. has turned to be a great source of debate and anxiety for policymakers, payers, patients, and prescribers. The major factor that raises the prices of treatment drugs in the U.S. is the presence of government protected monopoly privileges for drug manufacturers (Alpern et al., 2014). Possible solutions to the problem include price negotiations, generic drug policies, improving competition, and information dissemination.
Background
The high cost of such drugs is attributed to the approach taken by the U.S. to permitting government-protected monopolies to producers of drugs, as well as the coverage necessities that are imposed on drug benefits funded by the government. According to Howard and others (2015), the most effective short-term approaches that the U.S. uses to address the problem include implementing more strict necessities for the extension and award of individuality rights, increasing competition by guaranteeing prompt generic availability of drugs, offering greater openings for significant price negotiation by legislative payers, and educating policy makers, patients, payers, and prescribers about these choices.
Evaluation Criteria
Despite the efforts by the U.S government to address the problem of high cost of prescription drugs, sometimes, other federal policies and state laws limit the abilities of the generics to keep the costs down (Howard et al., 2015). In light of this, the U.S. government should review the effects and origins of high prices of drugs in the country and adopt policy options which can curb the increasing prices of prescription drugs.
Policy Options Analysis
Pharmacists in the U.S. are necessitated by law to seek patient consent before using a generic drug. As a result, costs increased since pharmacists failed to get the consent of patients, forcing Medicaid to cater for the more expensive brand name drug despite the availability of cheaper products (Alpern et al., 2014). Additionally, the United States has a policy that permits drug manufacturers to be the only manufacturers of drugs. Besides, the FDA gives producers of drugs in the United States exclusivity for specific products, comprising those that heal individuals with rare diseases.
Policy Recommendations
It is recommended that the U.S adopt the following policies to address the problem of high cost of prescription drugs. Establish a limit on out-of-pocket drug prices to allow consumers have considerable protection against the extremely high cost of drugs. Commend more generic forms of common drugs to moderate prices Permit limited importation of drugs from valid European and Canadian sources to relieve shortages and moderate prices.
References
Alpern, J. D., Stauffer, W. M., & Kesselheim, A. S. (2014). High-cost generic drugs—implications for patients and policymakers. New England Journal of Medicine, 371(20), 1859-1862.
Howard, D. H., Bach, P. B., Berndt, E. R., & Conti, R. M. (2015). Pricing in the market for anticancer drugs. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 29(1), 139-162.
Academic levels
Skills
Paper formats
Urgency types
Assignment types
Prices that are easy on your wallet
Our experts are ready to do an excellent job starting at $14.99 per page
We at GrabMyEssay.com
work according to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which means you have the control over your personal data. All payment transactions go through a secure online payment system, thus your Billing information is not stored, saved or available to the Company in any way. Additionally, we guarantee confidentiality and anonymity all throughout your cooperation with our Company.