Foreign Reference Pricing Schemes Threaten Patient Health and America’s Leadership in Medical Innovation

International policy experts and patients gathered today in Washington, D.C. to discuss the potential impact of foreign reference pricing schemes, which have been proposed by the Trump Administration in their International Reference Pricing, or “IPI”, and Congressional leaders in H.R. 3. Hosted by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), this discussion highlighted the real threats to patients’ health, innovation, and American jobs under the proposals. Speakers included health policy experts from the U.S., Austria, Germany, and Australia and patient advocates from Canada, Poland and the U.S.

The foreign reference pricing policies, as proposed, would index certain prescription drug prices in the United States to the prices of those drugs in countries around the world, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The speakers provided important perspectives on the proposals based on their real-world experience in a number of the reference countries. The policy experts on the panel noted that, if implemented, foreign reference pricing could have a devastating effect on America’s leadership in medical innovation. They also expressed concern that the high-quality jobs the industry is known for could be lost.

“Without question, something needs to be done about the cost of prescription drugs and healthcare in general in the U.S.,” said Patrick Hedger, Research Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. “However, looking to countries with nationalized healthcare systems is not the answer. Patients in those countries face their own grim costs, such as the lack of new, lifesaving treatments.”

A recent report showed that, of the 290 new medicines launched between 2011 and 2018, 89 percent were available in the U.S. The next highest availability rate in one of the proposed reference countries was Germany at a mere 62 percent.

Patients from the proposed reference countries noted there would be a real impact on patients’ ability to access innovative treatments for serious diseases. John Adams, Chair, Best Medicines Coalition and CEO, Canadian PKU and Allied Disorders added, “patients in Canada and many other countries are deprived the opportunity to be treated with the most advanced medicines because of our healthcare system. This is especially so when science can move a disease from untreatable to treatable or, in this new era, to curable. While the U.S. clearly needs new solutions that will help patients afford their medications, it is past the time when patients subsidize healthcare by suffering and dying when new therapies are available.”