Free Essay: Reduction of Prescription Drugs Policy in USA

There is a growing concern in the United States of America over the increased prices of prescription drugs in the market. The public interest attracted state involvement in the heated debate and rescued them from heavy spending on medicine. In 2019, the government enacted several health policies that aim at streamlining healthcare services for its people. The prescription drug price policy is meant to protect patients who regularly use prescription drugs like insulin intended to treat chronic diseases (Bendix, 2019). In 2018, several patients were reported dead because they were unable to purchase these drugs as a result of overpricing by manufacturers. The government has so far selected committees from the House of Representatives and Senate to draft a report to resolve the issue.

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The government is yet to implement the recommendations made by the committee if the prescription drug manufacturers don't reduce the prices of these drugs. The government, under its Affordable Care Act, aims to establish health centers across the country to ensure every citizen has access to health services. In the same policy, the government aims at making health services affordable to all citizens, which is not the case for prescription drugs.

The prices of prescription drugs are out of control, and the situation requires urgent government intervention. The process is not easy, but with the support of the government, a solution must be reached through all interventions. The select committee on prescription drug price intervention has submitted interventions that, if implemented, will ensure the price of the drug reduces in the United States (Frank, 2011). These recommendations include:

The government aims to manufacture their drugs by utilizing the government laboratory. Government drugs have low prices, which will force the price for the competitors to go down.

Government insurance should do the issuing of prescription drugs under Medicaid rather than the private manufacturers selling on their own to the government.

The government should consider importing drugs from neighboring countries where the price is low.

We are setting a median price for local manufacturers for the sale of drugs.

Utilizing the recommendations is secure, and if they are well followed, a long term solution will have dawned on America. After their implementation, the government needs to regularly assess the local manufacturers to ensure they follow all the laid down procedures. In this case, the government should be alert for local manufacturers who come into negotiation with generic producers to ensure the price remains the same. The government can do this by guaranteeing legislation of strict measures that seek to withdraw their manufacturing licenses if any of the producers are caught.

Impact of Reduction On the Cost of Prescription Drugs On Health Care Consumers

The reduction of prescription drug prices is meant to benefit consumers in several ways. As much as the drug was expensive to some people, several people were reported dead because they lacked the money to buy the drug (Yoo et al., 2015). A reduction of the price makes the medication affordable to people, which saves a life. By doing so, the government will be fulfilling its promises made in the Affordable Care Act, whereby health services must be accessible and affordable. The impact of the policy aims to reduce patient spending on prescription drugs, which gives one more power to seek specialized medical care. Lastly, the new prices will be the recommended market price, which means that manufacturers earlier exploited consumers as a result of their unhealthy competition.

Impact of Reduction On the Cost of Prescription Drugs to Health Care Providers

Selling drugs is a lucrative business that has a high Return on Investment (ROI). The increased inflation seen in prescription drugs is the reason there are several pharmacies across the country. The result of this increase undermines the quality of drugs supplied in hospitals because all manufacturers are after the profits from the lucrative market. Indeed, there is a need for the regulation of the trend to ensure healthy competition in the market as well as the quality of drugs manufactured.

Health care workers kept on complaining about the cost of accessing health care services despite the government being at the forefront of establishing an affordable health care act to its citizens. The country had experienced a sharp rise in the cost of healthcare, which greatly affected patient treatment. As a result, there was a decrease in people who sought these services as a result of the price. Instead, health care used to prepare dead people rather than save them to life (Kleinke, 2011). Patients used to report to the hospital during their last-minute making it hard for health workers to save their lives. Health workers were not satisfied with this trend and hoped for urgent intervention by the government to resolve the issue. Reducing the price of prescription drugs means that the health workers will be in a position to treat people with chronic diseases quickly than when they were required to get them on their own. The efforts of the government to allow Medicaid to have a negotiate with drug manufacturers will increase hospitals' drug store and make them available to the patients.

Adoption of Prescription Drug Price Policy

at the organizational level, the physicians are the stakeholders that help in the delivery of health care services to citizens. The increase in patient care cost was one thing to address because patients didn't get the right treatment because they could not afford to pay for it. Addressing the price of the drug means that the drugs are affordable by every patient. As a result, the government and the organization will have won efficient health care to its subjects. The impact of this policy is undeniably positive because its implementation is meant to increase the efficiency of the countries health care services.

I expect the organization's stakeholders to receive the information differently. Some stakeholders had shares in drug manufacturing companies, which means their profits and dividends will reduce. The information will be a shock to them, and they will try to fight the motion to enable them to maintain dominance. The rest who are not involved in the manufacturing will take the information positively. Others will receive the information positively because they have nothing to lose with the reduction of prices of prescription drugs. Most of the stakeholders support the policy because it reduces individual spending and promotes efficiency towards health care.

Prescription drugs are of great importance when stocked in all health care centers across the country. These drugs are commonly used by patients to get rid of chronic pains; hence they cannot run away from them. Increasing their prices means that most patients will not afford at the expense of unhealthy competition. The government and all the relevant stakeholders should support the policy to ensure citizens live a healthy life.

References

Bendix, J. (2019, March 13). Healthcare policy in 2019: A look ahead. Medical Economics. https://www.medicaleconomics.com/view/healthcare-policy-2019-look-ahead

Frank, R. G. (2011). Prescription Drug Prices: Why Do Some Pay More Than Others Do? Health Affairs, 20(2), 115–128. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.20.2.115

Kleinke, J. D. (2011). The Price of Progress: Prescription Drugs In The Health Care Market. Health Affairs, 20(5), 43–60. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.20.5.43

Yoo, K.-B., Lee, S. G., Park, S., Kim, T. H., Ahn, J., Cho, M.-H., & Park, E.-C. (2015). Effects of drug price reduction and prescribing restrictions on expenditures and utilisation of antihypertensive drugs in Korea. BMJ Open, 5(7). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006940