Vermont Business Magazine Top leaders on the Senate and House Judiciary Committees led by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) on Thursday introduced legislation Tuesday to combat anticompetitive practices used by some brand-name pharmaceutical and biologic companies to block entry of lower-cost generic drugs. The Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples (CREATES) Act would deter pharmaceutical companies from blocking cheaper generic alternatives from entering the marketplace. The bill is sponsored by Leahy and cosponsored by Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), leaders of the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights. Representatives David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and Tom Marino (R-Pa.), leaders of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law, introduced an identical version of the bill in the House.
Leahy said: “Vermonters and American families across the nation know from hard experience that many prescription drugs are simply too expensive. Vermonters tell me that the high cost of prescription drugs has become their top health care concern. When brand companies can drive up the price of drugs through predatory practices, patients suffer. Illnesses worsen. Families, government programs, and other payers in the healthcare system ultimately bear those added, unnecessary costs. Strategies wielded by these firms to delay entry of lower cost generic drugs are wrong, and they cause real harm. Drug affordability is a bipartisan issue that affects every American. This needs to be a high priority. I’m committed to working on behalf of Vermonters to see that the CREATES Act and other vital initiatives to address the high cost of prescription drugs are signed into law.”
Greg Marchildon, State Director of AARP Vermont, announced the organization’s endorsement of the bill, saying, “AARP is pleased to endorse the CREATES Act that would deter brand name pharmaceutical companies from participating in certain practices that can delay or block the availability of less expensive generic and biosimilar drugs. Left unchecked, these unnecessary delays could cost consumers, government programs, taxpayers and the healthcare system billions of dollars annually.”
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the bill would result in a $3.3 billion net decrease in the federal deficit. Savings to consumers and private insurers likely would be far greater.
The legislation, a version of which was introduced in the House earlier this year, is strongly supported by the Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM), consumer groups including AARP, Consumers Union, and Public Citizen; the American College of Physicians; the American Hospital Association; the Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing; and America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP).
An outline of the CREATES Act can be found here, and text of legislation can be found here.
WASHINGTON (THURSDAY, April 27, 2017) – Leahy