Global Healthy Living Foundation Peer-Reviewed Research Shows Hidden Risks of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Drug Pricing Reform

The Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) has launched a research-backed public education campaign to raise awareness about the unintended consequences of drug pricing reforms under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). This initiative stems from a recent peer-reviewed paper co-authored by GHLF’s Chief Science Policy Officer, Dr. Robert Popovian, Pharm.D., MS, published in the Journal of Health Economics and Outcomes Research (JHEOR). It includes a podcast episode, an infographic, and an article aimed at informing patients, caregivers, and policymakers.

“The IRA’s “maximum fair price” (MFP) policy was designed to reduce out-of-pocket costs for Medicare patients. However, it may lead to the opposite: higher out-of-pocket costs and increased health risks for vulnerable patients,” report author Dr. Popovian says

“By suppressing the retail price, CMS is reducing the profit margins and revenue for pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which is good. Predictably, the PBMs will not stand pat—they can shift the drug to a higher formulary tier, where patients will pay more out-of-pocket to acquire the medicine so the PBM can protect its profit margin,” said Dr. Popovian in a recent episode of GHLF’s Healthcare Matters podcast.

The study specifically modeled outcomes for two widely used blood thinners, Eliquis and Xarelto. If PBMs reclassify these drugs to higher cost tiers to compensate for lost profit, patients could face an estimated $688 million more in out-of-pocket costs. This cost-shift could result in over 320,000 patients abandoning treatment, potentially leading to 145,000 major cardiovascular events and up to 97,000 deaths.

“This research underscores a serious gap in how drug pricing reforms are being implemented and monitored,” said Dr. Popovian. “Without proper oversight and transparency, policies that were meant to help patients could end up hurting them.”

The GHLF education campaign includes:

• A peer-reviewed paper published in JHEOR: “Could the Inflation Reduction Act Maximum Fair Price Hurt Patients?”
• A patient-friendly article: “Lower Prices, Higher Risk: How Drug Reform Could Backfire on Patients” published on GHLF’s website and supported by social media
• A special podcast episode of Healthcare Matters, co-hosted by Dr. Popovian
• A downloadable infographic explaining the findings at-a-glance

“This campaign is not about politics—it’s about patients,” said Seth Ginsberg, GHLF Co-Founder and President. “We want people to understand what’s at stake when reforms don’t account for the full complexity of our health care system.”

GHLF encourages policymakers, journalists, and patient advocates to explore these resources and consider how reforms like the IRA impact access to critical medications.

About GHLF

The Global Healthy Living Foundation is a U.S. based, 501(c)(3) nonprofit, international organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life for people with chronic illnesses by advocating for improved access to health care through education, patient-centered clinical research, support, advocacy, and economic and policy research. GHLF is also a staunch advocate for vaccines. The Global Healthy Living Foundation is the parent organization of CreakyJoints®, the international, digital community for millions of people living with arthritis and their supporters worldwide who seek education, support, activism, and patient-centered research in English, Spanish, and French. In addition to arthritis and autoimmune disorders, GHLF supports dermatology, gastroenterology, neurology, cardiology, oncology, infectious disease, rare disease, and pulmonary patients through a host of different programs and activities which draw more than 700,000 patients a month to GHLF websites and create more than 10 million impressions a month on seven social media platforms. In 2024, GHLF had more than 1 million views and listens with its patient-centered audio-visual content, found on YouTube and podcast platforms. GHLF never asks the public for donations, receiving funding instead through governments, non-governmental organizations, foundations, industry, family foundations, and GHLF Co-Founder Louis Tharp. Visit www.ghlf.org for more information.

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