Medicaid Is Right to Demand Lower Drug Prices
New York State can’t afford $250,000 a year for one cystic fibrosis medicine.
One drug that can help patients breathe costs too much.
Photographer: Dominic Lipinski/PA Images via Getty Images
Last week, as President Donald Trump delayed announcing his plan to bring down high drug prices, about a dozen physicians, pharmacists, actuaries and economists in Albany, New York, tried to make a difference. The state Medicaid program’s Drug Utilization Review Board voted 10-0 to lower the price New York would pay for Orkambi, Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ cystic fibrosis drug, to $83,000 per year, from $250,000.
As a lung physician, I appreciate that Orkambi does have benefits — it eases breathing and prevents some of the acute episodes that can land cystic fibrosis patients in the hospital. It is an improvement over what we had to offer when I was in my medical training.