There are good reasons to question state commission’s view that prices are rising
The Globe’s June 14 editorial on biopharmaceutical spending trends (“Why are drug prices so high? Mass. should press for answers.”) failed to scrutinize the data it cited on drug prices. Relying on Massachusetts Health Policy Commission data, the Globe asserts that drug spending rose 7.3 percent since 2019. Many credible data sources on drug prices conflict with the commission’s outlier number, and there are good reasons to doubt the figure.
SSR Health, a respected consulting firm on drug prices, estimates that net drug prices have fallen for five straight years. IQVIA and Drug Channels, two other well-respected data sources on drug prices, also found prices flat or declining. None of these drug cost figures, including those of the Health Policy Commission, factor in the 2022 inflation rate of 6.5 percent, which, if considered, would put recent drug costs deep in negative territory.
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Moreover, the methodology the Health Policy Commission employed to arrive at its drug spending number is questionable. To arrive at overall drug spending, the HPC relied on self-reported data from pharmacy benefit managers. Specifically, the commission asked PBMs to provide data on “rebated” discounts, which is odd because many discounts to PBMs come through fee arrangements, not in the form of rebates. If PBMs provided the commission with only rebate levels, then the commission is substantially underestimating the discounts provided by drug manufacturers and overinflating drug cost growth.
Both the Legislature and the Globe will want to rely on more reliable data sources to inform their policy judgments.
William S. Smith
Senior fellow and director, Life Sciences Initiative
Pioneer Institute
Boston
Consumer shopped around and found the price varied widely
I concur with the editorial on high drug prices but will take it further with the disparity of prices for the same prescription. I was recently prescribed an antibiotic that was not covered by insurance unless there was an authorization. Out of pocket, the price was $700 at the pharmacy. Using GoodRx, the price at the pharmacy was $197 and $67 at a competing pharmacy. It doesn’t pass the sniff test that a medication can be so vastly different in price.
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Carol Reed
Bedford
