AMCP CEO Susan A. Cantrell, RPh, CAE, Responds to President Trump’s Speech on Lowering Drug Costs

Alexandria, Va., May 11, 2018 —Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) CEO Susan A. Cantrell, RPh, CAE, issued the following statement in response to President Trump’s speech today on lowering drug costs:

“AMCP applauds the Administration for addressing the rising cost of pharmaceuticals. This is an area in which AMCP has been proactively developing solutions to ensure patient access to affordable medications. We are pleased to see momentum building to address these challenges for the 300 million Americans with a prescription benefit that our members represent. 

AMCP has long supported several of the recommendations contained in the President’s blueprint, including the need to foster a competitive generic and biosimilars marketplace, and greater flexibility in benefit design for the Medicare program. However, AMCP also believes some of the elements outlined in the President’s blueprint require further consideration and broad stakeholder input to ensure that they are sustainable solutions to decreasing medication costs without resulting in unintended consequences that may disrupt patient care. 

In addition, AMCP believes there are several opportunities for addressing the rising cost of pharmaceuticals that were not included in the President’s blueprint, such as reducing barriers to the adoption of value-based contracting, and encouraging real-world evidence to demonstrate the value and quality of prescription medications in improving patient outcomes. 

AMCP will work with our network of more than 8,000 managed care pharmacy professionals to provide detailed comments to the request for information, and looks forward to working with the Administration and Congress to address the rising cost of pharmaceuticals in a manner that is attainable, practical, and sustainable.”