To better understand public perceptions about manufacturers showing drug pricing in advertising, MME conducted an online survey with 267 people. The majority of study participants were covered by commercial insurance and, on average, took four prescription medications per month. Participants reported seeing nine prescription drug advertisements in the past three months on average. Half had a household income greater than $75,000 per year and a third of our participants were aware of Trump’s proposal that drug manufacturers should include drug pricing information in direct to consumer advertisements (DTCA).
Of the respondents:
- Around 60% want manufacturers to show drug prices in ads on TV/streaming devices; 15% liked seeing them
- Half said they would feel better about paying their out-of-pocket (OOP) costs if drug prices were shown in ads
- Two-thirds did not believe showing drug prices in ads will lower OOP costs
- Around half believed that showing drug prices would encourage manufacturers to set lower prices for drugs
- The majority would like to see average, lowest, and highest OOP amounts paid by patients
Patients and caregivers place greater importance on the amount they have to pay for a drug in terms of the copay or OOP cost. In general, consumer preference about which pricing metric, e.g., list price, copay, cash price, etc to show in DTCA, is highly variable.
Due to the myriad of payers in the US market, like Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, managed care organizations, and pharmacy benefit managers, describing a single OOP cost would be difficult if not impossible for manufacturers. We are extending an invitation to a virtual meeting to talk through this analysis and how it translates to actionable preparation strategies for your product. Contact us today to schedule a meeting to discuss how we can help.
