Document Type

Response or Comment

Publication Date

8-17-2026

Abstract

Thank you for the opportunity to provide written comment in response to the Senate Finance Committee Minority Staff’s “Request for Information: Commonsense Policy Options to Lower Drug Prices for Patients.” We are answering as academic researchers with experience in medicine and the biopharmaceutical industry. This comment will focus on sections I and III of the RFI.

We applaud the accomplishment of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in establishing the precedent for the government to negotiate “fair market” prices for drugs on terms that address both patients’ needs for affordability and industry’s need for a reasonable return on investment. Our analysis shows that Medicare payment for innovative medicines has created enormous health benefit and health value provided to the American public and that the negotiated “maximum fair prices” (MFP) in the first two years of the IRA have substantially redressed an historical imbalance between the price paid by Medicare Part D and the value accruing to beneficiaries. We further show that this has been accomplished without any evidence of negative impact on pharmaceutical innovation or the pharmaceutical industry.

Download

Share

COinS