WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa urged President-elect Donald Trump to counteract high prescription drug prices by addressing drug misclassifications under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program and making sure laws to fight monopolistic behavior are enforced.  Grassley is working to understand the reasons behind the high cost of EpiPens.  The product has been misclassified under the Medicaid rebate program, likely leading to overcharges of hundreds of millions of dollars to taxpayers.

“Moving forward, I strongly urge your Administration to look at the pharmaceutical landscape and improve the regulatory approval process and enforcement authorities already in place,” Grassley wrote.  “I urge you to work with the Congress on legislative efforts to address anti-competitive behavior and to alleviate unnecessary regulatory burdens that may be impairing the timely introduction of safe, lower cost prescription drug alternatives in the market. Congress and your Administration can work together to devise policies that incentivize innovation and promote competition to the benefit of patients and taxpayers. 

“I also urge you to reverse the unwillingness of the executive branch – specifically the failure of the Obama Administration – to fully cooperate with congressional requests, whether it be oversight letters or hearings. Government actions must be disclosed to the public and held out in the open to foster transparency and accountability.”

Grassley scheduled a hearing in November to explore a reported government settlement with EpiPen maker Mylan over the Medicaid misclassification and explore the Obama Administration’s efforts to hold companies accountable for drug misclassifications.  However, Obama Administration officials from the Justice Department and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services CMS) refused to testify.  Mylan followed their poor example.  Grassley plans to reschedule the hearing in 2017.

Grassley raised the misclassification problem during his meeting last week with Trump’s nominee for CMS administrator.   He also discussed soaring drug prices and some of the remedies he’s working on with Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Grassley’s letter is available here. 

 

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