Congressional call for hearings on Sovaldi Part D impact
Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) wrote to House Energy and Commerce Committee majority leadership to request a hearing todiscuss HCV drug Sovaldi sofosbuvir from Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) and its costs to seniors, taxpayers, Medicare Part D drug plans and the Medicare program. In their Georgetown University and the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The representatives noted that Part D plans have been unable to negotiate a lower price for Sovaldi -- despite discounts to Medicaid and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs -- and suggested legislative solutions that would require drugmakers to provide Part D drugs to low-income individuals at the same price provided to Medicaid. Gilead said it is "unable" to provide discounts directly to the federal government, as the law leaves pricing negotiations to individual Part D plan sponsors. ...