The recent commentary on the price of cancer medicines “Strong action needed to curb cancer drug prices” (Modern Healthcare, April 6, p. 25) ignores the competitive biopharmaceutical market that exists in the U.S., which keeps a check on spending growth while spurring the development of innovative new therapies for patients.
Spending on retail prescription medicines has consistently accounted for just 10% of healthcare spending, even though biopharmaceutical companies have brought more than 500 medicines to U.S. patients in the past 15 years. Spending on cancer medicines represents just 1% of this total spending. That's because the marketplace for prescription medicines is unlike any other part of the U.S. healthcare system. High utilization rates of generics, competition among brand-name medicines and aggressive tactics by insurers to negotiate prices all help to keep costs under control.
And this is why we have seen such tremendous and sustainable progress against cancer and other challenging diseases. New cancer medicines have helped cut the overall cancer death rate in the U.S. by 20% since its peak in 1991.
Ensuring patients with cancer can access their medicines is a top priority for our industry. Unfortunately, unlike for other healthcare services, insurers may impose additional barriers to accessing needed medicines such as high out-of-pocket costs or utilization management. For example, many patients with cancer are being forced to pay an ever-growing share of their medicine costs, sometimes 30%, 40% or even 50%, which may force some patients to go without needed medicines.
Conversations about costs need to move beyond sound bites and short-sighted “solutions” and focus on the tremendous value that new, innovative medicines are providing to patients, the healthcare system and society—both today and in the long run.
