2015 | Sticker Shock

Finding Value in an Era of High-Priced Drugs

27th Annual Health Policy Conference | March 3, 2015

The pricing of new drugs has always been a controversial subject. New, usually single source, and ever more expensive, treatments appear every year, stoking the controversy to a fever pitch. While “expensive” used to mean hundreds of dollars annually per patient, it can now mean hundreds of thousands of dollars. With prices changing so rapidly, and new products being introduced so frequently, how can we make evidence-informed decisions about what to cover, ensure we are getting good value for money, and still make treatments accessible to patients? At the 2015 CHSPR Conference we heard some of the top experts in the field discuss whether we’re getting what we pay for… or paying for what we get.

Download the conference summary document


Program

8:45am | Welcome

Michael Law, Conference Chair, CHSPR [Slides]
Sabrina Wong, Director, CHSPR

9:00am | Establishing and Assessing Pharmaceutical Prices: Valorem est in oculis aspicientis

Neil Palmer, PCDI Market Access Inc. [Slides]

9:30am | What Impact do High Prices have on the Major Payers?

Barbara Walman, BC Ministry of Health [Slides]
Arden Krystal, BC Provincial Health Services Authority [Slides]
Mike Sullivan, Cubic Health Inc. [Slides]

11:00am | Keynote: What’s a Fair and Reasonable Price for Highly Effective Therapies?

Sean Tunis, Center for Medical Technology Policy [Slides]

1:00pm | Debate: The Cost per QALY is Useful for Making Drug Coverage Decisions

Moderator: Larry Lynd, University of BC [Slides]
For: Chris McCabe, University of Alberta [Slides]
Against: Craig Mitton, University of BC [Slides]

2:45pm | Value-Based Insurance Design

Teresa Gibson, Arbor Research Collaborative; Harvard Medical School [Slides]
Michael Chernew, Harvard Medical School [Slides]

3:45pm | Closing Remarks

Helen Stevenson, Reformulary Group Inc.

4:00pm | Poster Reception