On April 9, 2019, AHIP addressed a letter to leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee, expressing support for key provisions of H.R. 2113, the “Prescription Drug Sunshine, Transparency, Accountability and Reporting (STAR) Act.” This bill is on the agenda for the committee’s April 9 markup.
Our letter emphasizes that requiring greater transparency is an important step to ensure that consumers have the information they need to make informed health care decisions. We explain: “Currently, many patients lack drug pricing information that helps them make informed choices about their treatment. Increasing access to pricing information can enable patients to compare different treatment options and help them find lower cost, but equally effective, choices such as generic drugs or biosimilars.”
We express support for legislative provisions in three areas:
- Requiring drug makers to report detailed information to HHS for price increases that exceed certain thresholds; requiring drug makers to submit detailed information on expenses related to the development, manufacturing and marketing of a drug; and requiring a justification for high list prices and drug price increases (section 2);
- Improving public access into the number and value of prescription drug samples provided by drug makers to physicians by requiring the reporting of such information under existing procedures and mechanisms (section 3); and
- Improving the accuracy and timeliness of drug pricing data submitted by drug makers under the Medicare Part B program (section 6).