PhRMA Gave $16M to Block Drug Price Negotiations in 2022

On June 6, 2023, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) joined with several other industry groups to challenge the Biden Administration’s prescription drug price negotiation measures introduced as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. The complaint argued price negotiations were unconstitutional and would lead to “drug shortages, rationing, and declining innovation.”

PhRMA also targeted price negotiation through extensive lobbying efforts. Since 2020, PhRMA has spent over $105 million while lobbying against the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Build Back Better Act, Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2019, and Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act.

An Accountable.US review of tax documents shows that in 2022, PhRMA gave a combined $16.1 million to groups that directly spoke out against CMS price negotiation. Several groups received a majority or almost all of their revenue from PhRMA.

• We Work For Health, an industry advocacy group dedicated to pushing back against “price controls,” received $13.6 million from PhRMA in 2022 while reporting roughly the same amount in total revenue the same year, while seemingly not disclosing this heavy PhRMA support on its website. The group has ardently opposed price negotiation measures. In an August 2023 Business Wire article, We Work For Health executive director Dan Leonard attacked price negotiation provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act, warning they were “short sighted” and would “essentially poison the industry’s innovation ecosystem.” Since Q3 2021, We Work For Health has spent $430,000 while lobbying against drug pricing reforms, including the Inflation Reduction Act, Build Back Better, and The Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act. PhRMA has spent another $30,000 lobbying against these bills on We Work For Health’s behalf.

• Council For Affordable Health Coverage (CAHC), a group that claims to push back against “government run healthcare,” received $210,000 from PhRMA, nearly 27% of the organization’s total revenue, despite seemingly not disclosing this connection on their website. The group has fought against the Inflation Reduction Act’s price negotiation measures. In his October International Business Times article, CAHC president Joel White spoke out against IRA drug negotiation measures claiming “if congress repealed the IRA’s price controls, we’d have more cures.” Since 2020, CAHC paid Horizon Government Affairs, which White also owns, $440,000 to lobby against drug pricing and Medicare Part D reform. In the same time period, Horizon Government Affairs received an additional $850,000 directly from PhRMA.

• Healthcare Leadership Council, a coalition of healthcare CEOs that has worked to undermine healthcare reform efforts since the 1990s, received $895,000 from PhRMA in 2022. Its members include Merck, and until February 2024, Bristol-Myers Squibb, who both challenged the IRA in court. In September 2023, HLC’s’s Twitter account shared a Wall Street Journal opinion piece from former Bristol-Myers Squibb CEO Giovanni Caforio, parroting his claims that price negotiation will “harm patients far more than it helps them.” HLC has also fought IRA price negotiation measures, with president Mary R. Grealy warning they would stifle drug development. Since 2020, HLC spent $720,000 while lobbying against drug price negotiation legislation, including the IRA, Build Back Better, and the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act.

• Incubate, a healthcare venture capital advocacy group founded in 2019 to challenge Democrats’ healthcare reforms, received $715,000 from PhRMA in 2022. This makes up almost 100% of Incubate’s revenue—the group seemingly does not disclose this financial connection on their website despite Bart Forsyth, vice president of federal advocacy for PhRMA, serving on the group’s advisory board. Incubate has opposed IRA drug price provisions, with executive director John Stanford warning the policy “‘throws a wrench’” into the drug development process. In an Axios interview, he added, “‘we’re investors, why on earth would you invest in something with nine years of returns when you could invest in 13?’” Since 2021, the group spent $210,000 while lobbying against price negotiation legislation, including Build Back Better and the IRA. 

• RetireSafe, a group that pushes for “limited government” in senior care and has opposed price negotiation measures for at least a decade, received $355,000 from PhRMA in 2022, making up 63% of its total revenue for the year, despite seemingly not disclosing this connection on their website. In 2013, RetireSafe worked with PhRMA to publish a letter opposing the Obama administration’s price negotiation proposals. RetireSafe has also fought against recent price negotiation measure proposals as well, with president and CEO Mark Gibbons publishing a Washington Times opinion piece claiming IRA price negotiation would “plunge America’s ability to discover new cures into the darkness.” In 2022, RetireSafe spent $50,000 while lobbying against the IRA. 

• Galen Institute, a free market healthcare group working against “government controlled medicine,” received $100,000 from PhRMA in 2022, making up almost 88% of its total revenue for the year, despite seemingly not disclosing this close connection on their website. The group has opposed price negotiation measures, with Galen Institute founder Grace-Marie Turner praising Merck for filing a lawsuit against IRA price negotiations, echoing the company’s claim that the policy is a “‘draconian and deceptive scheme.’”

• The Heritage Foundation, a powerful free-market conservative think tank that has driven Republican policy for decades, received $125,000 from PhRMA in 2022. The group opposes price negotiation measures—in an August 2023 Daily Signal article, Heritage Foundation’s director of health and welfare policy Nina Owcharenko Schaefer dubbed the IRA “The Innovation Reduction Act” and parroted claims it would reduce drug development and impose “‘draconian taxes.’” 

• Washington Legal Foundation, a free market law firm, received $40,000 from PhRMA in 2022. In a February 2023 Washington Times opinion piece, the group’s general counsel Cory L. Andrews called price provisions “Orwellian” and claimed they would reduce the supply of medicines. 

• Pioneer Institute, a free market policy research organization, received $50,000 from PhRMA in 2022. In July 2023, William S. Smith senior fellow and director of Pioneer’s life sciences initiative, warned of a “nuclear winter” for the biotech industry, claiming price negotiations would decrease revenues and investment.