Clinton plan to cut drug costs gets shrugs

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s plan to rein in prescription drug prices by reshaping how drug makers do business is being met by skepticism within the industry.

Pharmaceutical experts are mostly shrugging off the proposal from the Democratic presidential candidate, which she outlined Tuesday at a forum in Iowa. They point out that some of the ideas have been rejected repeatedly by Congress over the past 20 years.

The Clinton plan includes a combination of proposals long pursued by Democrats, such as cheaper drug imports from abroad and permitting Medicare to negotiate drug prices with companies. It adds some newer ideas, including requiring drug makers to invest a set portion of profits into research, rather than TV and print advertisements.

The announcement comes amid growing consumer worries about prescription- medication costs, which grew an estimated 12.6 percent last year, according to the federal government.

More than 70 percent of Americans think drug costs are unreasonable and favor limiting what drug companies can charge for medicines that treat serious illnesses, according to a recent poll from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.

But even with broad public support, industry experts say price restrictions are unlikely to make their way through Congress, which is expected to remain in Republican hands.

“You have to look at this as a rhetorical statement because these are proposals that have been roundly rejected by the Congress repeatedly,” said Dan Mendelson, president of Avalere health consultants, who served in the Clinton White House during the 1990s.

Other industry watchers said the plan appeared aimed at neutralizing competition from Clinton’s chief rival for the Democratic nomination, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has been railing against high drug prices for about a year.