The federal health regulators proposed Monday rules that would require drug manufacturers to disclose the current price of drugs costing more than $ 35 a month in their TV commercials.

The plan, announced by Health and Social Services Secretary Alex Azar, would affect all Medicare and Medicaid medications.

Pharmaceutical companies are currently required to disclose the major side effects of a drug.

"Patients deserve to know what a drug might cost when we talk to them about the benefits and risks it may have," said Azar. "They deserve to know if the pharmaceutical company has pushed its prices to unreasonable levels, and they deserve to know it every time they see a drug being advertised on television."

Earlier on Monday, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association said drug manufacturers would voluntarily disclose catalog prices and drug shares that they advertise on television on a new website at from the spring.

"Today's announcement represents a great change for our companies and will require significant operational changes to be implemented by individual companies," said Stephen Ubl, PhRMA's CEO. "But we think that's the right thing to do and that it's an important step to provide patients with the information they want."

Federal officials and other critics said the PhRMA plan did not go far enough.

"The impact of this is zero," said Michael Rea, founder and CEO of software company RX Savings Solutions. "He will not do anything."

The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing has called the PhRMA plan a "total joke".

The advocacy group was much more positive about the federal plan.

"The Trump Administration has made real progress in providing consumers with the information they need to make the best healthcare decisions," the campaign said in a statement.

David Mitchell, founder of the non-profit advocacy group Patients for Affordable Drugs, said that even catalog price insertion in advertisements – rather than on a separate website – would not reduce the price of drugs .

The Trump administration and Congress had asked drug manufacturers to provide cost information in drug advertisements. Ubl said that the industry "voluntarily put themselves up to the test".

According to the PhRMA, a survey showed that consumers want more information on drug prices. Mitchell, who suffers from multiple myeloma, dismissed the result.

"They have not asked the right question, namely:" Do you want more information on drug prices or do you want to reduce them? "Mitchell said." That's because PhRMA does not want an answer. "

PhRMA says it is working with groups representing consumers, patients, pharmacists and suppliers to develop the new website on drug price transparency.

Groups include the National Alliance Against Mental Illness, the National Association of Community Pharmacists and the National Medical Association, which represents African American physicians and their patients.

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