March 19, 2013 | WASHINGTON D.C.

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The National Minority Quality Forum (The Forum) announces today its support for government noninterference in drug price negotiations for Medicare Part D. A provision of the Social Security Act prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services from interfering in the negotiations between drug manufacturers, pharmacies, and sponsors of prescription drug plans (PDPs) involved in Part D of Medicare, or from requiring a particular formulary or price structure for covered Part D drugs.  The Forum continues to support this approach.

Proponents of empowering the Secretary to negotiate drug prices say repealing the non-interference provision will reduce prescription drug cost for Part D. There is no evidence to support their opinion, particularly in light of a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report. (CBO was created by Congress to provide nonpartisan, objective analysis to inform the legislative process.)  The CBO report states “…modifying the noninterference provision would have a negligible effect on federal spending because we anticipate that under the bill the Secretary would lack the leverage to negotiate prices across the broad range of covered Part D drugs that are more favorable than those obtained by PDPs under current law. Without the authority to establish a formulary or other tools to reduce drug prices, we believe that the Secretary would not obtain significant discounts from drug manufacturers across a broad range of drugs.”

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About The Forum

The National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, non-partisan, independent research and education organization. The vision of NMQF is a health services research, delivery and financing system that provides quality and effective health services to the biodiverse American general population of the 21st century. NMQF helps assure that national and local quality improvement initiatives are informed by scientific evidence, and place a priority on the quality of care and patient outcomes in all populations.

Media Contact

Gretchen C. Wartman, VP Policy and Program

gwartman@nmqf.org | 202.223.7560