Expressing the sense of Congress on the need to inform American consumers with more balanced purchasing information for prescription drugs through the disclosure of price information in direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertisements.

Expressing the sense of Congress on the need to inform American consumers with more balanced purchasing information for prescription drugs through the disclosure of price information in direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertisements. Whereas, on June 13, 2017, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing entitled, The Cost of Prescription Drugs: How the Drug Delivery System Affects What Patients Pay Whereas, on October 17, 2017, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing entitled, The Cost of Prescription Drugs: How the Drug Delivery System Affects What Patients Pay, Part II Whereas, on December 12, 2017, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing entitled, The Cost of Prescription Drugs: An Examination of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Report Making Medicines Affordable: A National Imperative Whereas, on December 13, 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health, held a hearing on Examining the Drug Supply Chain Whereas, on May 11, 2018, President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar introduced the American Patients First blueprint to bring down prescription drug prices; Whereas American patients deserve more transparency and information to better position them to be well-informed participants in their health care decision making as they consult with their physician or other licensed health care practitioner; Whereas the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is the single largest payor for drugs in the United States; Whereas, in 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and its beneficiaries spent over $174 billion on drugs covered under Parts B and D, and $64 billion on drugs covered under Medicaid, for a total of more than $238 billion for prescription drugs; Whereas, in 2017, drug manufacturers spent over $5.5 billion on prescription drug advertising of which nearly $4.2 billion was spent on television advertising; and Whereas the ten most commonly advertised drugs have list prices ranging from $535 to $11,000 per month or usual course of therapy: Now, therefore, be it That it is the sense of Congress that— (1) the efficient administration of both Medicare and Medicaid encompasses Federal efforts to achieve good value for funds spent in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; (2) it has directed the Department of Health and Human Services to operate Medicare and Medicaid programs efficiently; (3) the Department of Health and Human Services has the authority to require direct-to-consumer (DTC) television advertisements of prescription drugs and biological products to include the Wholesale Acquisition Cost (WAC, or list price (4) the proposed rule by the Department of Health and Human Services, through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, published in the Federal Register on October 18, 2018, when finalized shall be codified without change.

Summary: Expresses the sense of Congress that: the efficient administration of Medicare and Medicaid encompasses federal efforts to achieve good value for funds spent in those programs; the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has the authority to require direct-to-consumer television advertisements of prescription drugs and biological products to include the drug or product's list price; and the proposed rule by the CMS published in the Federal Register on October 18, 2018, when finalized, shall be codified without change.