As Congress continues to discuss health care reform, I hope its members are including generic biologic drugs in that discussion. Biologics are used to treat serious diseases such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis and can cost $10,000 or more per month. Americans must be able to get these life-saving medicines at a price they can afford.
What we need is for any health care reform package to include the “Promoting Innovation and Access to Life-Saving Medicine Act” (HR 1427/S726). AARP is supporting the bill because it will create a process for the FDA to approve lower-cost generic biologic drugs; it will get safe, lower-cost versions of these life-saving medicines to patients across the country; and it will give the FDA the power to approve generic versions of these biologics five years after the brand-name drug can be sold to consumers.
We must remember that the skyrocketing cost of biologics is not just hurting individuals. Employers and public programs like Medicare and Medicaid can’t continue to pay these astronomical prices. In 2007, Medicare spent $13 billion on biologics. Medicare beneficiaries pay 20 percent of those costs. Congress needs to act now and make generic biologic drugs available as quickly as possible.
Marilyn Askin AARP New Jersey Chief Legislative Advocate