Question

please answer the question below about the skyrocketing prices of specialty drugs in American.

1. What are the internal and external assessments necessary to address this issue?

2. Who are the major stakeholders?

3. What populations should we be studying?

4. Who has the most to gain, who has the most at risk?

5. Is the environment ready for this issue to be addressed

Answer 1

1) The internal and external assessments necessary to address this issue

Global health care expenditures have been rising sharply, and drug costs are a major factor.Recent public outcry about exceptionally high prescription drug prices have made this subject a popular media and political topic. Discussion of drug prices has moved from an academic and government level to a broader society level and now includes the evaluation of public impact.

The price of medicines was one of the campaign issues in the 2016 Presidential election in the US .

The high cost of prescription drugs in the United States has been the focus of much discussion and debate in recent years, as price tags continue a precipitous march upward.

Two decades ago, the costs began rising well beyond that of other nations, and in recent years have shot up again.

Several factors could be at play in America’s spending surge. One is the total amount of prescription drugs used. But Americans do not take a lot more drugs than patients in other countries.

In fact, when it comes to drugs primary care doctors typically prescribe — including medications for hypertension, high cholesterol, depression, gastrointestinal conditions and pain — a recent study in the journal Health Policy found that Americans use prescription drugs for 12 percent fewer days per year than their counterparts in other wealthy countries.

Another potential explanation is that Americans take more expensive brand-name drugs than cheaper generics relative to their overseas counterparts. This doesn’t hold up either. We use a greater proportion of generic drugs here than most other countries — 84 percent of prescriptions are generic.

Though Americans take a lower proportion of brand-name drugs, the prices of those drugs are a lot higher than in other countries. For many drugs, U.S. prices are twice those found in Canada, for example.

Prices are a lot higher for brand-name drugs in the United States because we lack the widespread policies to limit drug prices that many other countries have.

“Other countries decline to pay for a drug when the price is too high,The United States has been unwilling to do this.”

For example, except in rare cases, Britain will pay for new drugs only when their effectiveness is high relative to their prices. German regulators may decline to reimburse a new drug at rates higher than those paid for older therapies, if they find that it offers no additional benefit. Some other nations base their prices on those charged in Britain, Germany or other countries.

That, by and large, explains why we spend so much more on drugs in the United States than elsewhere.

Four key factors contributing to the high cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. including:

• Problem 1: Pharmaceutical monopoly power over drug pricing that is not counterbalanced by a strong coordinated purchasing strategy as it is in most high-income countries.

• Problem 2: The opaque pharmaceutical supply chain that allows various intermediary players to maximize their profits.

• Problem 3: Manipulative marketing tactics that drug manufacturers use to lure providers and consumers toward high-cost medications.

• Problem 4: Insurers shifting costs to consumers that leads to unaffordable medications millions of people depend on.

By taking all the above in consideration discussing about the skyrocketing cost of drug issue is very important in order to reduce the expenditure on health and making acess of drugs to everyone

2) Major stakeholders in specialty drugs

stakeholder Definition
A person, group or organization that has interest or concern in an organization.
Stakeholders can affect or be affected by the organization's actions, objectives and policies. Some examples of key stakeholders are creditors, directors, employees, government (and its agencies), owners (shareholders), suppliers, unions, and the community from which the business draws its resources.

Stakeholders

• Finance

• Support is absolutely required

• Need financial experts advice

• Competition for funding

• Results will be measured to budget

Stakeholders

• Supply chain

• Marketing

• Contracting
Key External Stakeholders

• Pharmaceutical industry

• Payers

• Employer groups