BIO's response to "A Better Deal" proposals on drug pricing.

Spending on prescription drugs is roughly 14% of all health care spending - about the same as in 1960. As a percentage of all health care spending, U.S. spending on prescription drugs is similar to other developed countries.

Insurers require patients to pay on average five times more in out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs than for hospital care. According to one estimate, more than 35% of a drug's list price is rebated back to insurance companies, the government, and other players in the drug supply chain. All too often, these savings are not shared with patients.

If the U.S. had European-style price controls in place from 1986 to 2004, an estimated 117 fewer medicines would be available to patients.

Federal 'transparency' mandates would fall especially hard on small businesses - the source of 70% of all clinical trials - because they rely on private-sector funding to support their research.

In July 2017, Democratic lawmakers released “A Better Deal,” an economic agenda that includes policy proposals on prescription drug costs. This document is meant to provide policymakers and the public a thorough response to the claims and policies outlined in the “A Better Deal” agenda.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has said that direct government price negotiation in Medicare will not produce real savings unless the federal government is also allowed to set prices and restrict access to certain drugs. Allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices would undermine a program that is working well for seniors and taxpayers. The Medicare Part D prescription drug program has cost $349 billion less than originally projected and nearly 90% of seniors are satisfied with the program.