Columbian Missourian: Government needs to stop price-setting measures that stifle health care innovation

By Connie Farrow, Patients Come First Missouri Executive Director

A friend recently lost his father to a rare form of cancer for which there is currently no cure. Many attempted to console my friend by reminiscing about the full life his father had led, but his thoughts kept wondering back to the countless therapies and medicines they’d tried in hopes of prolonging his dad’s life until a cure could be found.

The American medical innovation system is the best in the world, but government price-setting measures like those in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) stifle innovation and hope for patients with rare diseases and chronic illnesses waiting for a cure. They also threaten patient access to the best treatments in favor of alternatives that mean more money for the government and other big health care players, like insurers.

Any stifling of development will have devastating consequences for patients, who could be left with fewer viable options to choose from and worse health outcomes when they can least afford it. I know my friend would have reeled over the opportunity to access a game-changing treatment or cure for his father.

Read the full op-ed in the Columbian Missourian here.