NHC Launches Drug Pricing Blueprint Tracker

Since its release, many of the high-level priorities in the Department of Health and Human Services’ American Patients First drug pricing blueprint have been developed into specific policies, either through efforts by the Administration or Congressional legislation.

To stay on top of these policies and legislation, the NHC has developed a Drug Pricing Blueprint Tracker. The Tracker gives an overview of the proposals, indicates whether each one aligns with the NHC’s Domains and Values for Reducing Health Care Costs, and offers instructions for stakeholders to comment. It will be updated as new policies arise. See the Tracker here.

Released in May 2018, the blueprint highlights four strategies for lowering drug prices in the United States: improved competition, better negotiation, incentives for lower list prices, and lowering out-of-pocket costs.

The NHC submitted comments on the blueprint on July 16. Overall, we feel that there a number of ideas in the blueprint that can combine to help reduce costs for patients. There are also several ideas that we have concern will limit access for patients, and their impact will depend on the fine print once proposals are released.

The NHC will update the tracker as new policies and regulations are acted upon or introduced.