February 3, 2015

Contact:   Kelly Peuquet
                  kpeuquet@nchc.org
                 202-638-7151

American College of Physicians Joins Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing

The American College of Physicians, the largest medical-specialty organization and second-largest physician group in the United States, has joined the Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP), a broad-based coalition working for solutions to skyrocketing prescription medicine prices.

“ACP members work on the front lines of our health care delivery system and have witnessed firsthand the harm caused to patient health and personal finances by unsustainable pharmaceutical drug prices, especially those for new specialty drugs,” says John Rother, President and CEO of the National Coalition on Health Care, which leads CSRxP. “Exorbitant drug prices deny patients access to life-enhancing medicines and result in higher out-of-pocket costs, premiums, and taxes. To prevent our health care system from going bankrupt, we need to establish a drug pricing structure based on value and data-driven evidence and balance between the interests of innovative drug manufacturers and those of society and our health care system.”

“The pricing of specialty drugs increasingly lacks transparency and rationality,” says ACP President David A. Fleming. “We’re seeing the introduction of many patent-protected drugs with monopolistic pricing power that fail to demonstrate a relationship between their price and their value to the health care system. Though many of these medications offer great promise, the price tag for health care clinicians and patients is simply too much to bear. We look forward to working with the Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing to address these challenges.”

In 2013 specialty drugs accounted for less than 1 percent of U.S. prescriptions but for more than 25 percent of prescription spending. By the end of the decade, just 2 to 3 percent of all prescribed medications will be specialty drugs, but they will account for roughly 50 percent of the total drug spend, according to CVS Health.

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The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP) is a project of the National Coalition on Health Care, the oldest and most diverse group working to achieve comprehensive health system reform representing more than 80 participating organizations, including medical societies, businesses, unions, health care providers, faith-based associations, pension and health funds, insurers and groups representing consumers, patients, women, minorities and persons with disabilities. Member organizations collectively represent – as employees, members, or congregants – over 100 million Americans. CSRxP aims to spark a national dialogue about the need to find market-driven solutions to the problems caused by the onslaught of new high-priced prescription medicines. Follow CSRxP on Twitter.

The American College of Physicians is the largest medical specialty organization and the second-largest physician group in the United States. ACP members include 141,000 internal medicine physicians (internists), related subspecialists, and medical students. Internal medicine physicians are specialists who apply scientific knowledge and clinical expertise to the diagnosis, treatment, and compassionate care of adults across the spectrum from health to complex illness. Follow ACP on Twitter and Facebook.