PHARMA’S DAY ON THE HILL — The CEOs of three major drug companies will testify today before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on the high cost of prescription drugs. How we got here: Merck CEO Robert Davis and Johnson & Johnson CEO Joaquin Duato relented to a subpoena threat by Chair Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) last month, agreeing to testify alongside Bristol Myers Squibb CEO Chris Boerner, who had already agreed to come to the Hill as long as at least one other pharma executive showed up. What to expect: Sanders will likely grill the CEOs on what he calls “incredible price discrepancies” in the drugs they sell, which go for lower prices in other countries. “Due to the high cost of prescription drugs, one out of four Americans cannot afford the medicine their doctors prescribe,” Sanders’ office wrote in a hearing notice. Committee ranking member Bill Cassidy (R-La.) is expected to take aim at Sanders in his opening remarks, accusing Democrats of not being serious about finding solutions to high drug costs. March-in rights: The hearing comes after more than 70 House and Senate Democrats, including Sanders and other members of his committee, wrote to federal officials Tuesday supporting the Biden administration’s proposal to assert the government’s right to seize patents of certain high-priced drugs using taxpayer funds, an action called march-in rights. The FTC this week also backed the proposal, which has been lambasted by Cassidy, other Republicans and the pharmaceutical industry. PANDEMIC LESSON, MADE PERMANENT? Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) announced new legislation today to keep extending and expanding at-home care for patients who would otherwise be in a hospital by creating a CMS pilot program for acute care at home, including common observation services, Daniel reports. The Covid-19 public health emergency allowed hospitals to treat patients in their homes. The policy, which freed up beds and protected patients from Covid and other risks that come with hospital stays, was extended into mid-2025 by Congress last year. Lawmakers are trying to move the policy quickly, perhaps in the coming weeks as Congress again faces a funding deadline. A
Hill staffer, granted anonymity to discuss internal strategy for the policy, said discussions are underway to consider it for inclusion in the coming must-pass package. SENATE OK UNLIKELY ON QALY BAN — A bill to ban a metric that assesses a drug’s impact on health outcomes and quality of life faces long odds in the Senate without changes. The legislation passed out of the House along party lines Wednesday but faces Democrat and White House opposition, Ben reports. It would ban the use of quality-adjusted life years and similar measures in Medicaid, the VA and other programs. The Affordable Care Act banned such metrics in Medicare “as a threshold to determine coverage.” Bill supporters, led by House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), say QALYs discriminate against people with disabilities by underestimating how much treatments would benefit them. But Democrats didn’t bite. E&C ranking member Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) has said that despite having “no problem” banning measures like QALYs, the bill’s language is vague enough that it could allow legal challenges from the pharmaceutical industry and companies to charge more for drugs. IN OTHER CAPITOL HILL NEWS — The federal budget gap is expected to grow by another $1 trillion over the next decade, largely driven by an aging population as well as federal spending on programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The deficit, or the difference between how much money the government spends and takes in, is expected to top $1.6 trillion this year, reports POLITICO’s Caitlin Emma.
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