AHA: CMS proposal for drug ad transparency ‘important first step’

The AHA today voiced support for a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ proposal to require drug pricing transparency in direct-to-consumer television advertisements and encouraged the agency to “rein in skyrocketing drug prices” for patients and the providers who serve them. “We appreciate CMS’s focus on this issue, and we believe this proposal represents an important first step in bringing more transparency to drug pricing,” AHA wrote. “Further, the specific provisions outlined in this proposed rule are consistent with drug price solutions for which the AHA will continue to advocate.” In the rule, the agency estimates that U.S. prescription drug spending grew to about $457 billion in 2015, almost 17 percent of overall spending on personal health care services. “These numbers continue to grow at an unsustainable rate far above the rate of inflation,” AHA said. “The public has been clear: more than 80 percent of the American public says that prescription drug costs are ‘unreasonable.’ Despite this outcry, drug manufacturers continue to take advantage of a complicated system to extract high prices.”