Breadth of Patient and Stakeholder Input in CMS's Drug Price Negotiation Program: A Content Analysis of the 2023 Patient-Focused Listening Sessions
AUTHORS
Julie A. Patterson, PharmD, PhD, Tyler D. Wagner, PharmD, PhD, Rayan K. Salih, PharmD, Gabri’el D. Shabazz, MPH, and Jon D. Campbell, PhD of the National Pharmaceutical Council
Publication
Overview
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) held Patient-Focused Listening Sessions in Fall 2023 for each of the first 10 drugs selected for the Drug Price Negotiation Program established by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Study authors aimed to describe the breadth of patient and stakeholder input at the sessions and found that, though speakers often focused their time on patient experience and evidence, the passive listening format provided CMS, on average, with less than 15 minutes of patient-focused input per session on this critical aspect of drug evaluation. Speaker demographics suggest the sessions fell short of capturing voices of diverse and Medicare-specific patient populations. Speakers’ focus on patient access emphasized concerns about the unintended consequences of the IRA.
