September 30, 2014

Contact:   Kelly Peuquet
                 National Coalition on Health Care
                 kpeuquet@nchc.org
                 202-638-7151, ext. 106

As Drug Costs Begin to Surge Again, Hatch-Waxman Offers Lessons on the Path Ahead

Statement from National Coalition on Health Care President and CEO John Rother on the 30th anniversary of the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act, commonly known as Hatch-Waxman

“Hatch-Waxman is one of the true success stories in health policy, saving trillions for consumers and taxpayers over the past thirty years. But with spiraling drug costs looming in the specialty pharmaceutical sector, it’s time we drew some lessons from that achievement.

Thirty years ago, Senator Orrin Hatch and Representative Henry Waxman refused to heed naysayers who claimed that you couldn’t have both affordability and innovation. Policymakers and stakeholders of very diverse interests and perspectives dialogued, debated, and ultimately settled on an approach that balanced the need to reward innovation with the need to maintain system-wide affordability. The results were trillions of dollars in savings from generic competition and three decades of continued breakthroughs in brand-name drugs.

As a new generation of exciting but expensive drugs emerges, we must acknowledge, as Hatch and Waxman did in the 1980s, that innovation has to come at a price our health system can afford.”

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The National Coalition on Health Care (NCHC), the oldest and most diverse group working to achieve comprehensive health system reform, is a 501(c)(3) organization 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.

Some members of NCHC do not, or cannot, take positions either on specific legislation, strategies or on any policies outside their respective mission areas. However, all that can, do endorse broad policy positions in support of comprehensive health system change.