CMS's Slavitt: Drug prices must be tamed

Increasing drug prices are creating “unsustainable pressure on the Medicare program and action is going to be necessary to address them,” acting CMS Administrator Andy Slavitt said Thursday evening, according to a transcript of his comments at a conference co-sponsored by Friends of Cancer Research.

Presenting the case for addressing drug costs, Slavitt said total prescription drug spending in 2015 was about $457 billion or 16.7% of health care spending, and annual increases of 6.7% are expected through 2025. He singled out specialty drugs, saying that in 2014 they accounted for 31.8% of spending despite representing only 1% of prescriptions...