'It's A Runaway Train': Rick Allen Decries Government Spending In Healthcare

3 months ago

During a House Education Committee hearing prior to the recess, Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA) spoke about federal spending in healthcare.

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Transcript

00:00Chairman, and thank you, Mr. Secretary, for being with us today. Now that the federal

00:05government owns and is running health care, we are encountering disastrous problems throughout

00:11the country. We are losing providers because of the oppressive policies of HHS and CMS.

00:18Patients are compromised by complicated rules requiring prior approvals and limits on care

00:25and rehabilitation. It is not free market and it is not free patients. It is all governed by this

00:33branch of the government. We are spending $4 trillion in this country on health care,

00:39$1.6 trillion in taxpayer dollars on health care in this country.

00:45When Medicare became law, three people were paying for each one Medicare recipient. Today,

00:52one American is paying for every three Medicare recipients.

00:58We have had some difficult policy made in the last 80 years in health care,

01:08and it is a runaway train. I have asked you this question every time you have come to this,

01:15and I served on the Healthy Future Task Force, and I couldn't get an answer there either.

01:23But I keep asking, where are all the dollars going? Who is getting them? Is it the federal

01:30agencies? The providers, their incomes are decreasing, as I understand it. Practices,

01:38hospitals are consolidating because of this problem, creating a problem everywhere.

01:43I have asked you that question. Have you all figured it out over there?

01:46Can you give me a breakdown of where every federal and paid dollar goes for health care?

01:55Well, here is the interesting thing, Congressman. I can tell you where the federal dollars go

01:59because we keep an accounting of it. I can't tell you where the private sector dollar goes.

02:03You mentioned prior authorization. That has nothing to do with the federal government.

02:06Prior authorization is something that the insurance companies came up with to try to

02:11keep providers from being able to offer the services that they believe are necessary.

02:16We can't get in that space because that's done by a private entity, that private business.

02:21I would tell you that the answer to your question, where are those dollars going,

02:25it's the middlemen. We've heard about all the money that's going into the PBMs.

02:30The PBMs are the ones that are essentially the go-betweens between pharmaceutical companies

02:36and the pharmacies and the dispensing. In between the pharmaceutical companies

02:41and the pharmacies, a whole bunch of money is in that system.

02:44I've got limited time here, but realize the insurance companies are basically in bed with

02:53the federal government. The federal government is running health care in this country.

02:57I never see them next to my pillow, I'll tell you that.

03:01Democrats passed a partisan bloated inflation reduction act, and the drug price setting

03:05provisions in this bill make developing treatments even more difficult by not

03:09allowing the cost of the development to be recouped, especially for small molecule products.

03:17Due to these differing timelines, there's concern in the medical community that the

03:20law does not provide enough time for small molecule manufacturers to recoup research

03:25and development costs. Could you tell me, yes or no, will HHS address the differing

03:30timelines between small and large molecule drugs to ensure it does not increase the cost

03:35of drugs for patients and does not disincentivize the innovation of drugs in the future?

03:42If you're speaking about the negotiation program that we're engaged in with drug companies,

03:46we cannot seek to negotiate the prices of some of those drugs that you just mentioned until

03:53they've been on the market for many, many years.

03:56Yes, you are.

03:58So we have taken that into account. Innovation, we take into account what they charge or what

04:03they say they invest in research and development in any price negotiation.

04:06All right, yes is what I needed to hear. Back in February, the National Association of Attorneys

04:11General sent a letter to congressional leaders on behalf of a bipartisan group of 39 attorneys

04:15generals, including Georgia's AG Chris Carr, urging action on pharmacy benefit manager practices.

04:22This letter outlines several PBM practices such as spread pricing, tying their own compensation

04:28to the list price of medicine that are increasing cost of millions of patients,

04:32employers, and community pharmacies, not only in my state but across the country.

04:38Since you've mentioned on record that HHS is currently enforcing the drug price transparency

04:44rule, I'm assuming that you also agree something needs to be done to protect patients and

04:49stakeholders from such practices?

04:52As I mentioned, PBMs, we would all like to do more.

04:54That would be a yes?

04:56We would all like to see you do more when it comes to PBMs.

04:59Okay, I have a few more questions. I'll submit those for the record.

05:03I'm out of time and I'll yield back. Thank you.

05:05Thank you, Mr. Allen. Ms. Jayapal, you're recognized.

'It's A Runaway Train': Rick Allen Decries Government Spending In Healthcare

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