November 5, 2019 Issue, Page 4 of 10

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Page 4 The Elk City News, Elk City, Oklahoma Tuesday, November 5, 2019 The Senate’s Opinion Page “ElkCituNews new drug By Sally C. Pipes the government 65 percent care Part D. Once Part D new drugs. Consider that Serving Western Oklahoma since 1901 House Speaker Nancy Pe- of last year’s sales for the beneficiaries spend $5,100 Americans had access to al- losi has a radical new plan to drug in question. out of pocket on prescrip- An education let the federal government set drug prices. Though it might seem tions, the government begins moderate in comparison, paying for the majority of most 90 percent of all new medicines released between each drug they take. Under mystery To combat this bill, many Grassley’s bill contains its 2011 and 2018. Meanwhile, Republicans are holding up fair share of government Grassley’s bill, drug mak- patients in the United King- Senator Chuck Grassley’s price setting. Like the sec- ers would have to pay for 20 dom only had access to 59 By Jonathan Small Prescription Drug Pricing tion that prohibits drug percent of each drug sold in If the Oklahoma Department of Education’s new $3.29 Reduction Act as a more companies from raising this “catastrophic phase.” percent of those drugs. Ca- billion state-appropriation request were transformed into a moderate alternative. Medicare prices faster than But most Part D ben- nadian patients had access to book for young readers, the title might be “The Mystery of That’s a mistake. While the rate of inflation. Firms eficiaries never reach the just 46 percent. Grassley’s bill isn’t as radi- that raise prices too quickly catastrophic phase. So this the Missing Teacher Raises.” cal as the Pelosi’s, it includes would have to pay a rebate reform won’t do anything Why? Because the budget plan is being sold based on similarly dangerous reforms. to the government, equal to to lower their drug costs. In Grassley’s plan may be a comparisons that make hundreds of millions in teacher pay Neither bill would do much the difference between the other words, the government slightly better alternative to raises disappear. to save patients money. And old and new prices. is the primary beneficiary of Pelosi’s. But watered-down Over the last two legislative sessions, lawmakers have both would make it harder Like all price setting, this this new tax on drug makers. socialism is still socialism, increased K-12 school appropriations by 20 percent, fun- for Americans to access new so-called “inflation penalty” The Senate bill would neling $638 million more into the system, boosting teach- drugs. would prohibit drug com- raise taxes on pharmaceuti- and would be equally disas- Pelosi’s bill would em- panies from setting mar- cal firms by $100 billion. trous in the long run. Let’s er pay by a combined total average of more than $7,000 power government officials ket prices. But that won’t And as any Republican sen- hope Republicans come to apiece, and devoting millions more to classroom funding. to set prices for a variety of lower costs for patients. To ator should know, raising their senses and drop this bill That spending goes missing in comparisons put out by drugs. The bill instructs the make up for lost revenue in taxes is bad for business. the Department of Education to defend its new state appro- Secretary of Health and Hu- the short-term, drug com- This is especially true for before it’s too late. priation request. The proposed school budget would add man Services to “negotiate” panies will raise prices on the drug industry, where Sally C. Pipes is president, $219 million in new spending and is touted as raising state- the prices of up to 250 medi- non-Medicare patients. Over developing just one new CEO, and Thomas W. Smith appropriated per-pupil funding to $3,275. That matches a cines. time, companies will begin medicine costs an average fellow in healthcare policy But these negotiations launching drugs with artifi- of $2.6 billion. The more per-pupil figure last achieved in 2009. at the Pacific Research Insti- would hardly be fair. The cially high prices, to avoid money researchers have to But the department’s per-pupil estimate for the 2020 bill. caps the negotiated having to raise prices and fork over to Uncle Sam, the tute. Her latest book is The budget year does not account for the funding provided for prices at 120 percent of the face the penalty down the less they'll have to spend on False Promise of Single- teacher pay raises over the last two years. Why not? When average price paid for these line. research. Payer Health Care (Encoun- those pay raises passed, they were touted as a big step. Now drugs in six other countries. The Senate plan would they’re relegated to a footnote. Any company that refused to also tax manufacturers for Price setting also makes it ter). Follow her on Twitter And that’s not all. The department’s budget emphasizes negotiate would have to pay certain drugs sold in Medi- harder for patients to access @sallypipes. a program to incentivize people to become school coun- selors, including 526 certified counselors now working as teachers. If Oklahoma had a surplus of teachers, that might Cancer cures may already exist not be alarming. But it doesn’t, as Superintendent of Pub- By Peter J. Pitts conduct years of lab tests anew medicine to market. valued by patients and the lic Instruction Joy Hofmeister noted earlier this year. She House Democrats recently and animal studies. The ma- The research process healthcare system. wrote that Oklahoma “remains in a severe teacher short- unveiled H.R. 3, a proposal jority of potential medicines doesn’t end there. Compa- If the House bill makes it age, even after back-to-back teacher pay increases averag- that would impose ill-con- fail in this pre-clinical trial nies often conduct extensive harder to recoup the cost of ing $7,300 a year and an unprecedented infusion of $75 sidered price controls on phase -- only one in 1,000 post-approval trials to moni- follow-on research, compa- million into the funding formula signed into law last May.” prescription drugs. compounds shows enough tor patients for long term ef- nies won’t make those in- Patient advocates immedi- promise to merit further test- fects. While the teaching workforce increased by 1,100 last ately panned the bill, warn- ing. Innovators also __ test vestments in the first place. year, the number of emergency certified teachers increased ing that it would deter medi- Scientists typically con- whether their medicines can Why bother looking for new more than 1,000. You may recall one argument for raising cal research and prevent duct “phase I” clinical trials effectively treat other, re- uses if these post-approval teacher pay was that the state was over-reliant on emergen- scientists from developing on healthy humans to con- lated diseases. Consider the discoveries won't deliver a cy certified teachers and needed to attract more tradition- future treatments and cures. firm a medicine’s safety. If drug Lynparza, which the financial return? ally trained teachers back to the classroom. They’re right -- but they’re the compound proves broad- FDA approved in 2017 to But what makes the policy understating the bill’s harm- ly safe, scientists move on to treat certain types of ovar- even less defensible is that it Now it seems the Department of Education thinks coun- ful effects. The legislation “phase II” trials in dozens or ian, fallopian tube, and pri- would do nothing to reduce selors are more important than traditionally certified teach- could stifle ongoing “post- hundreds of sick patients. mary peritoneal cancers. ers. And this shift is occurring against a backdrop ofdispir- patients’ actual pharmacy approval” research into ex- More typically, the FDA The manufacturer conduct- bills. The proceeds from iting academic outcomes. Student achievement on state isting treatments that are al- requires researchers to prove ed post-approval research, the inflation penalty would tests was lower in 2019 than in 2017, despite the subse- ready on the market. It would a drug’s safety and efficacy which led to the FDA ap- proving Lynparza for certain go directly into the govern- quent huge increase in school spending. prevent scientists from refin- in “phase III” trials, which ing current drug formulas to usually involve hundreds or forms of breast cancer. ment’s coffers. Oklahomans deserve a plan to improve those outcomes make them safer or testing thousands of sick patients. Follow-on research isn’t Simply put, patients would and address workforce needs. Instead, it appears agency of- medicines in broader patient Drug companies then submit cheap. It adds $300 million, lose out on valuable medical ficials simply want to change the conversation. But this is populations. their testing data to the FDA on average, to the drug’s discoveries, while deriving no time to change direction. In other words, cures for for review. R&D cost. no benefits in return. That’s If the past two years’ efforts are not achieving the results certain types of cancer and This process takes a de- H.R. 3 would discour- not what Americans had in expected, then it would be better to admit so forthrightly other chronic conditions cade or more and it’s fraught age such research. The bill mind when they demanded may already exist -- but they with failure. Only 12 percent imposes steep penalties on and offer a new plan to achieve those still-unattained goals. won't reach patients if H.R. of experimental medicines companies that raise a medi- drug-pricing reform. A children’s mystery book can provide a few afternoons Peter J. Pitts, a former 3 becomes law. that enter phase I trials ulti- cine’s price faster than infla- of diversion. But what Oklahoma needs is an education FDA Associate Commis- Consider how the drug de- mately win FDA approval. tion. The legislation would plan that will improve lives for years to come. velopment process works. After accounting for this prevent companies from up- sioner, is president of the Jonathan Small serves as president of the Oklahoma When scientists discover a high failure rate, it costs $2.6 dating their prices -- even if Center for Medicine in the Council of Public Affairs (www.ocpathink.org). promising compound, they billion, on average, to bring the new indication is highly Public Interest. Governor must lead on gender pay parity Muskogee Phoenix, Okla. ering results.” Women, was 60.2%, and by median annual earnings The example of pay parity ple for the state and its busi- An analysis of salaries It’s difficult to imagine that narrowed to 76.3% for full-time workers in cited by the Stitt administra- ness community. Stitt’s pre- being paid to Gov. Kevin hitting a stride that will car- in 2001. The Institute for 2018 but not much to brag tion -- that the governor's decessor, Gov. Mary Fallin, ry Oklahoma into the Top 10 Women’s Policy Research about considering the state top two paid employees, a paid the women on her staff Stitt’s administrative staffers revealed a pay gap divided when pay disparities persist reported earlier this year the ranks 42nd when it comes to man and a woman, are paid 3.5% more than the men, so by gender, with men earn- between genders -- it’s go- wage gap in weekly earn- gender pay disparity. equal salaries -- is worth not- ing on average more than 20 ing to take work to resolve ings for full-time workers There are reasons other ing. parity is possible. percent more than women. the difference. While the widened from 81.1% 2017 than equity to make the We also acknowledge the We agree with the premise That is disappointing con- picture has improved since to 81.1% in 2018. move toward gender pay difficulty of distinguishing of the governor's argument, sidering boasts the governor 1980, most of those gains The gender pay ratio in equality important. gender pay gaps when com- but it is going to take more made during his first State were achieved during a 20- the Stitt administration, ac- Corporations that promote paring assigned duties rela- than mere words to make of the State address as he set year span before progress cording to data obtained by pay parity found it good for tive to compensation. the “turnaround” he talked out to define “Oklahoma’s stalled after the turn of the CNHI Oklahoma pursuant to the bottom line -- it reduced But the governor’s hiring about during his campaign Turnaround.” Becoming a century. a records request, was about employee turnover rates, decisions -- placing more becomea reality. It’s going Top 10 state, he said, will The pay ratio for women 80.3 percent. bolstered recruitment ef- men in higher-paid, top- require “us to reimagine the in 1980, according to data That’s better than the gen- ranked positions -- impacts forts, and boosted profitabil- to take leadership, and the possibilities” and “hold our- compiled by the American der pay ratio of 76% for ity -- and responsive to cul- not only pay parity between man at the top should lead selves responsible for deliv- Association of University Oklahoma when measured tural demands for change. genders, it sets a poor exam- by example. Have something to share? Send your letter to [email protected]