ANOTHER INHALER COST CAP — AstraZeneca will cap out-of-pocket costs for uninsured and privately insured patients who use its inhalers at $35 a month, the company said Monday. The move comes just two months after Senate Democrats announced an investigation into the prices of the devices used to treat asthma and other respiratory illnesses. The company’s co-pay assistance program will launch on June 1. Democrats on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee wrote to the four biggest makers of inhalers — AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GSK and Teva — in January, calling for them to submit information on their inhaler sales and development strategies. BI announced a $35 out-of-pocket cap on its inhalers earlier this month. Democrats said the drugmakers use tactics common in the pharma industry, like obtaining duplicative patents or shifting patients onto similar brand-name drugs when older patents expire, to maintain near-monopolies on the inhaler market, even though the devices and the drugs they deliver have been available for decades. Quick back story: Last year, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi committed to cutting the list prices of some of their insulin products amid pressure from HELP Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), President Joe Biden and other Democrats. But the companies also made those decisions in response to growing generic competition and larger Medicaid rebates that kicked in this year. More to come? Sanders said in a statement that he’s spoken with the CEOs of the big four inhaler manufacturers. A GSK spokesperson said Monday the company will work with Sanders “to provide greater transparency into healthcare costs in the United States and to make our best-in-class products accessible to those who need them.” A Teva spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment. DON’T EXPECT HEALTH RIDERS — An effort to attach a package of health care measures to a federal appropriations bill is likely dead, five congressional staffers and two lobbyists told Megan and David. The slate of policies, which would have impacted the pharmacy benefit managers that negotiate prescription drug prices for insurers, reformed hospital billing practices and added new funding for community health centers, fell by the wayside after congressional leaders were reluctant to add to the size of the spending bill. Meanwhile: Top negotiators have reached an agreement on a spending deal for the Department of Homeland Security, allowing congressional leaders to close out a broader spending agreement including HHS funding in the days to come, POLITICO’s Caitlin Emma and Jennifer Scholtes report, according to a source familiar with the talks. Text of the tranche of funding is expected late today or Wednesday, possibly setting up a House vote on Friday at the earliest if House Speaker Mike Johnson sticks to his pledge to give Republicans 72 hours to review legislative text.
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