The Biosimilars Forum Applauds Senators Cornyn And Bennet's Introduction Of Legislation To Lower Health Costs By Supporting Biosimilars

The Biosimilars Forum today applauded new legislation introduced by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) that would reduce health care costs and increase patients’ access to lower-cost biosimilars by directing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to implement a “shared savings” model for biosimilars. The Biosimilars Forum released the following statement in support of the introduced Increasing Access to Biosimilars Act:

As the coronavirus crisis continues to be an economic strain on the federal government and our health care system, this commonsense, cost-saving policy is a win-win for the government and U.S. taxpayers — providing significant health care cost savings across the system. For too long we’ve experienced misaligned incentives forcing physicians and patients to use the higher cost product. This legislation will help break that cycle and lower costs. We look forward to working with Congress and the administration to implement legislation like the Increasing Access to Biosimilars Act that will help promote biosimilars and save patients and the health care system billions of dollars.

A recent research paper released by Alex Brill details how a shared savings demonstration model in Medicare can increase the use of biosimilars and lower Medicare Part B spending. According to Brill, increasing biologic drug competition with a shared savings payment model for lower-cost biosimilars “offers not only the potential for significant savings to Medicare and patients, but also valuable assistance to the burgeoning biosimilars market.” Administered through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation Center (CMMI), a shared savings model would adjust the reimbursement structure to encourage physicians to use lower-cost biosimilars, thus bringing savings to Medicare and taxpayers.

In March 2020, Congressmen Cardenas, Hudson, Fitzpatrick, and Craig introduced a bipartisan companion bill in the House.

A poll in February found that an overwhelming 73% of Americans are in favor of sharing savings, a policy that has been projected to save $3B in taxpayer dollars over the next ten years.

For more information on the potential savings that can be realized with increased access to biosimilars, visit www.supportbiosimilars.com.