Payers part of the drug-pricing problem, says FDA commissioner

WASHINGTON – Insurance companies need to be doing more to push down drug prices, Scott Gottlieb, MD, Food and Drug Administration commissioner, said March 7 at an insurance-industry policy conference.

“Payers are going to have to decide what they want,” Dr. Gottlieb said at the conference sponsored by America’s Health Insurance Plans. “Do they want the short-term profit boost that comes with these rebates or in the long-run assist in their function” to make things better for patients, for providers, and those who pay for care.

^{Gregory Twachtman/Frontline Medical News}

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, speaks at the AHIP National Policy Conference

It is possible to spur competition while working within the confines of the rebate-based system, he said. “I don’t see these as binary choices. You can have your cake and eat it too. Or in this case your rebates.”