Pharma ads will soon be required to include drug prices

Pharmaceutical companies will soon be required to include their products’ prices in TV ads, under a new rule that the Trump administration hopes will drive down prescription-drug costs, officials said Wednesday.

The Department of Health and Human Services regulation, slated to take effect in July, will require commercials to display a drug’s Wholesale Acquisition Cost in legible print if it is greater than $35 for a month’s supply or the course of treatment, the agency announced Wednesday.

“Patients have a right to know the price of the healthcare they receive, before they receive it,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar in announcing the rule. “We believe today’s step on transparency will help make prices in healthcare work much more like they [do] in any other market — not utterly uniform, but more predictable and more competitive.”

The regulation is part of the American Patients First package, devised last year by President Trump, who has lobbied for lower drug costs and greater transparency in the pharmaceutical industry throughout his time in office.

Skeptics in Big Pharma have opposed the change, claiming that sticker shock could deter Americans from seeking out drugs they need, and that the Wholesale Acquisition Cost does not reflect the cost most customers would pay after insurance kicks in.

The rule does not prohibit ads from pointing out that consumers may end up paying much less than the list price.