When: Monday, July 22, 2019, 2:00 – 4:15 p.m. EDT
Where: https://www.brookings.edu/events/louisianas-prescription-drug-experiment-a-model-for-the-nation/
What:
The high cost of prescription drugs has become an increasingly pressing concern for policymakers, insurers, and families. New drugs—like those now available for Hepatitis C— offer tremendous medical benefits, but at a cost that puts them out of reach for many patients. In an effort to address the affordability dilemma, the Louisiana Department of Health has recently introduced a novel “subscription” model under which Asegua Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Gilead Sciences, will supply, for a negotiated sum, enough Hepatitis C drugs to cure virtually all incarcerated and Medicaid patients suffering from Hepatitis C in Louisiana over the next five years.
On Monday, July 22, the Brookings Institution’s Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy and the USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy will co-host a discussion of the Louisiana experiment as well as other novel approaches to increasing prescription drug affordability. Featured speakers include Louisiana Secretary of Health Rebekah Gee and Wendell Primus, Senior Advisor to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, whose office is currently working on legislation to lower prescription drug prices.
THis event will be live webcast. Join the conversation on Twitter using #DrugPricing.