NOTIFICATION OF DRUG PRODUCT PRICE INCREASES

To advocate for manufacturers to provide notice and justification to the public and healthcare providers in advance of drug price increases; further,

To advocate for transparency in drug product pricing decisions.

Rationale

Many factors contribute to high drug product costs, and addressing the problem is made difficult by lack of knowledge about the marketplace for those products. For example, rebates negotiated by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and discounts to other buyers make it difficult to determine the actual price of a drug product. ASHP advocates for more publicly accessible information on drug product pricing, such as an annual report on increases in drug product prices. Such information would provide patients and their healthcare providers with the information needed to make drug product purchasing choices. The purpose of this policy is to advocate for laws and regulations that would require drug product manufacturers to publicly report price increases in advance and provide justification for those increases, as well as to advocate for transparency regarding drug product pricing decisions. The policy is intended to increase public knowledge concerning pricing decisions made by different parties in the drug product supply chain (e.g., manufacturers, distributors, PBMs, group purchasing organizations) who may influence drug product prices.