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Louisiana’s prescription drug experiment: A model for the nation?

Co-hosted by the Hutchins Center on Fiscal & Monetary Policy and the USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy

Past Event

Introduction & What are the benefits of subscription models?

Introduction & What are the benefits of subscription models?
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Introduction & What are the benefits of subscription models?

Confronting affordability: A conversation with Rebekah Gee
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Confronting affordability: A conversation with Rebekah Gee

Pitfalls and possibilities of subscription models
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Pitfalls and possibilities of subscription models

A federal perspective: A conversation with Wendell Primus
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A federal perspective: A conversation with Wendell Primus

The high cost of prescription drugs has become an increasingly pressing concern for policymakers, insurers, and families. New drugs—like those now available for hepatitis C— offer tremendous medical benefits, but at a cost that puts them out of reach for many patients. In an effort to address the affordability dilemma, the Louisiana Department of Health has recently introduced a novel “subscription” model under which Asegua Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Gilead Sciences, will supply, for a negotiated sum, enough hepatitis C drugs to cure virtually all incarcerated and Medicaid patients suffering from hepatitis C in Louisiana over the next five years.

On Monday, July 22, the Brookings Institution’s Hutchins Center on Fiscal & Monetary Policy and the USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy co-hosted a discussion of the Louisiana experiment as well as other novel approaches to increasing prescription drug affordability. Featured speakers included Louisiana Secretary of Health Rebekah Gee and Wendell Primus, senior advisor to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, whose office is currently working on legislation to lower prescription drug prices.

Agenda

Introduction

What are the benefits of subscription models?

Neeraj Sood

Professor, Vice Dean for Faculty Affairs, Vice Dean for Research - USC Price School of Public Policy, USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics

Confronting affordability: A conversation with Rebekah Gee

Pitfalls and possibilities of subscription models

R

Rekha Ramesh

Executive Director, Public Policy - Gilead Sciences, Inc.

Neeraj Sood

Professor, Vice Dean for Faculty Affairs, Vice Dean for Research - USC Price School of Public Policy, USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics

A federal perspective: A conversation with Wendell Primus

Wendell Primus

Senior Policy Advisor, - Office of Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

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