Dozens of drugmakers will start disclosing the prices for U.S. prescription drugs advertised on TV.
The prices won't actually be shown in the TV commercials but the advertisement will include a website where the list price will be posted.
The move announced Monday by the industry's largest trade group comes hours before a speech by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on a new administration proposal to require prices in the ads. Azar responded that the industry's announcement is a "small step in the right direction" but the government's plan "will go further."
Most Americans don't pay the full price for prescriptions. In addition to the price, the drugmakers' websites will show the likely out-of-pocket costs for people with insurance coverage. The ads should start airing next spring.
President Trump signed two bills last Wednesday intended to keep drug prices low and transparent, emphasizing the importance of keeping drugs affordable. Trump said prescription drug prices are a bipartisan issue that Republicans and Democrats can agree upon.
Prescription drug prices have continued to rise, despite the president's pressure on drug companies. The two bills the president is signing, the Know the Lowest Price Act and Patients' Right to Know Drug Prices Act, are intended to curb that. They both aim to ban "gag order" clauses in contracts between pharmacies and insurance companies.
In the past, Trump has said drug companies are "getting away with murder."
(The Associated Press, CBS News contributed to this report.)
Without gag clauses, patients get better information about their healthcare options while shouldering lower out-of-pocket costs for quality prescriptions.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 14, 2018
Get the facts on President @realDonaldTrump's blueprint to bring down drug prices: https://t.co/BFxNwoFjoT pic.twitter.com/7CiOOeDBvF
