Biosimilars at Kaiser Permanente: Lessons in successfully reducing spending on prescription drugs
Biosimilars play a critical role in lowering drug prices. Kaiser Permanente successfully uses biosimilars to improve affordability for our members. We are eager to share best practices and work with policymakers to help facilitate a more competitive market for biologic…
Building Racial Equity into the Drug Development System: Clinical Trials, Access, and Affordability
Building a bigger table for a more equitable drug development system
On December 7, 2020, the Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy hosted the first of a 2-part virtual forum examining racial equity in the drug development system, including during initial investments and research, patent and regulatory processes, supplier and physician…
The Medicaid Drug Rebate Program and the impact of “best price” rules
The Medicaid Drug Rebate Program (MDRP) requires pharmaceutical manufacturers to issue rebates to Medicaid for covered outpatient drugs. When they offer prescription drug benefits, Medicaid programs must cover nearly all drugs, potentially reducing Medicaid’s leverage to negotiate discounts. Policymakers created…
How to save the patent system in 3 easy steps
Patents are in the news as Congress considers legislation to address patent abuses and anticompetitive behavior by the pharmaceutical industry. If you’re tuning into these issues for the first time (or even the second or third) you’ll notice that there…
The price Is wrong: Why we need to curb prices on biologics to protect patients
I want to tell you a story about one of my patients — let’s call her Helen. After months of treatment, Helen just wasn’t getting better despite being prescribed a drug that I have used to successfully treat many of…
Our thoughts on HHS’s blueprint to lower drug prices: It’s time for a new legal and policy landscape
Reflections on high drug pricing in America: Where we are and where we’re headed
