Millions of Americans who struggle to afford medications they desperately need finally have a glimmer of hope that some relief may be on the horizon – but giant pharmaceutical companies aren’t happy about the plan and have filed suit to try and stop it.

These Big Pharma companies are claiming the federal government is making decisions without enough input from patients or doctors. Well, as a patient, I call bull on their concerns.

The Inflation Reduction Act allowed Medicare to negotiate prices directly with pharmaceutical companies for certain prescription drugs. This could greatly benefit millions of seniors on Medicare who take common medications on a daily basis.

The White House announces steps to start negotiations

In late August, the White House announced the first step in a four-year plan in which Medicare will negotiate the price of dozens of commonly prescribed medications. At that time, they also released the list of the first 10 medications picked to be negotiated. All of those drugs treat serious medical conditions – primarily diabetes, heart failure, and blood clots. And many of them are used by seniors with little income.

As a stroke survivor, I rely on one of those drugs, Eliquis, to hopefully help me avoid blood clots that could lead to another stroke or a heart attack. At least two of the other drugs on this list have been mentioned as a possible addition or alternative to my current treatment plan.

I am fortunate to have an employer-provided insurance plan that covers at least some of the costs of my medications. Commercial insurance companies can negotiate drug prices – but the process is complicated and confusing, and much of it happens via a mysterious chain of events hidden from the consumer. Until this recent legislative change, Medicare lacked that kind of negotiating power.

I am not a Medicare beneficiary but many of my loved ones are – and we have all shared the experience of frantically scrambling to figure out how we will pay for pricey drugs we need. We’re far from alone, as many Americans have been forced to choose between getting their medications and paying for other essentials like groceries and utilities.

I welcomed the news of this Medicare negotiating development, which might bring my loved ones some relief from the constant panic of worrying about how they will afford their critical medications. This is a change that is urgently needed and way overdue.

Big Pharma, on the other hand, wasn’t as excited.

Legal challenges are quickly piling up

Several of the largest pharmaceutical companies have filed lawsuits against the federal government, as has the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (in a separate action).

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), a trade group representing major pharmaceutical companies, is involved in at least one of those legal actions. In a statement released by the organization, PhRMA’s president and CEO said, “Giving a single government agency the power to arbitrarily set the price of medicines with little accountability, oversight or input from patients and their doctors will have significant negative consequences long after this administration is gone.”

The fact that a Big Pharma rep would even dare to complain about price transparency or patients lacking any input or agency in the process is laughable, given the pharmaceutical industry’s track record of roller coaster price fluctuations – what some lawmakers deem to be price-gouging – and apparent lack of concern for the impact on patients. 

Many of them do seem very concerned, however, with the impact on their own – very healthy – bank accounts, as some of these companies’ CEOs are enjoying total compensation packages (including bonuses, stock awards, and other incentives) of $20 million or more. In many cases, they saw a significant boost in profits and raises during the pandemic while the rest of us suffered. 

No patient I know would ever object to an action that makes their life-saving medications (or anyone else’s) more affordable, and it’s ludicrous that Big Pharma would even try to make that argument.

Even worse, some of the recent comments by pharmaceutical firms come across almost like veiled threats – with references to how this could cause drug prices to rise for other non-Medicare patients or perhaps could even trigger a halt to the development of some new drugs altogether.

It seems like an attempt to pit patients against each other – a type of cruel Hunger Games in which we’re led to believe that any money we save on our own medications will come at a significant cost to others who will be forced to pay more for theirs.

All Americans deserve affordable, accessible medications

Call me hopelessly optimistic, but I’d like to envision a world where none of us have to starve in order to afford the medications that keep us alive. Where I don’t have to feel guilty that the price I pay for my own medicine might cause the price of my elderly neighbor’s prescriptions to skyrocket to a point he cannot afford.

Feelings aside, drug affordability makes financial sense if you care about the economy as a whole, and not just  the drug manufacturers’ bottom line. Lowering the cost of critical medications isn’t just compassionate, it’s also often cost-effective from an economic standpoint. Ensuring I can get the medications that can help me avoid another stroke would likely be much cheaper than paying the cost of the treatment and care I would require – possibly for the rest of my life – if I suffered another stroke. In fact, another stroke could easily carry a price tag of $150,000 or more. On a national basis, stroke-related costs in the United States totaled nearly $56.5 billion in a recent one-year period, according to the CDC. 

Aside from the cost of treatment, there’s the fact that people who are incapacitated by a stroke, heart attack, or other major medical issue are unable to work – meaning they cannot contribute to the economy in the form of payroll taxes and may require the support of safety net programs. 

This latest action making prescription drugs more affordable is due in large part to the efforts of grassroots movements led by progressive organizations (including The Indivisible Project, Patients for Affordable Drugs Now, the Center for American Progress, Public Citizen, the Center for Popular Democracy, and others) and coalitions of ordinary citizens who have been fighting valiantly on behalf of Americans who desperately need more affordable medications. They fought hard for this win and don’t intend to let Big Pharma take it away. 

Allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices and help more Americans afford their medications is one important step that may help pave the way towards greater pharmaceutical affordability and price transparency for all of us, while saving insurance providers significant expense in the future. That seems like a win-win for everyone, but it’s clear Big Pharma is only concerned about their bottom line.