Resource Library

Bargain or Barrier? How Global Drug Pricing Affects U.S. Patient Access & Affordability

Use this collection to understand the policy debate, prepare your story, follow recent developments, and advocate for solutions that lower patient costs without sacrificing access or future innovation.

Find Your Representative Story Toolkit Reading & Watch List Advocacy Watch Take Action

Quick Link: Read & Sign NPLB's Patient-Driven MFN Opposition Letter

1. Find Your Representative

Connect while Congress is home.

Start with the House of Representatives lookup tool. Once you identify your representative, use the steps below to find public events during recess.

Find Your Representative

Check the official website. Look under “Events,” “Press Releases,” or “District Schedule.”
Keep an eye out for announcements on social media. Staff often post town halls, roundtables, and community visits on X/Twitter and Facebook.
Look at local news and district newsletters. These frequently list upcoming appearances during recess.

2. Story & Advocacy Toolkit

Turn experience into action.

Real-world experience is the most credible force in this conversation. These tools can help turn your own experience into something a legislator, reporter, or an advocacy group/leader can act on.

The Impact Story Formula

A step-by-step guide from Patients Rising for building a compelling advocacy story for legislators and policymakers.

Open the Toolkit

The I.M.P.A.C.T. Framework

Use each step to keep your story focused, personal, and tied to a clear policy ask.

IIntroduction

MMoment

PProblem

AAsk

CConnection

TTakeaway

3. Reading & Watch List

Arm yourself with facts.

These reports and explainer videos expand on the evidence and policy questions discussed in the webinar.

Access, Pricing & Patient Impact

Access to New Medicines in the United States vs. Other High-Income Countries
PhRMA: The source for the 88% vs. 36% access gap and the 3-months-vs.-3-years reimbursement timeline.
The Impact of Price Controls on Rare Disease Medicines Access
Charles River Associates: Analysis of how price controls affect orphan drug approval and reimbursement timelines.
Will MFN Drug Pricing Help Patients or Hurt Access?
PharmaPhorum: A deep dive into the copay and formulary trade-offs patients abroad face despite lower list prices.
MFN Drug Pricing Proposal Raises Questions Around Access, Innovation, and Commercial Coverage
AJMC: Examines the administration's projected savings and open questions about how they would extend beyond public programs.
New Medicare “Most Favored Nation” Demos Aren't Worth the Price
RealClearHealth: Sue Peschin argues that GLOBE and GUARD could restrict access while little of the savings reaches patients directly.

Innovation, Investment & Competitiveness

GLOBE, GUARD, and Weighing the “Most-Favored Nation” Coal in the Drug Industry's Stocking
RA Capital: Investor analysis of potential revenue reductions and the risk of defunding R&D.
China Is the Reason Why the U.S.'s MFN Drug Pricing Experiment Will Likely Be Short-Lived
RA Capital: Explores how China's biotech sector could fill gaps if Western drugmakers deprioritize non-U.S. markets.
MFN Harms Innovation Without Lowering Prices, BIO Warns
BIO: Industry response arguing that MFN will not lower patient out-of-pocket costs while weakening investment.
MFN Poses an Outsized Threat to Small and Mid-Size Pharma
Americans for Tax Reform: Examines the risks to emerging biopharma and early-stage financing.
Inflation Reduction Act Unintended Consequences for Medical Innovation
Forbes: Reviews research on declines in clinical trials and early-stage small-molecule investment.
Protect American Innovation
No Patient Left Behind: A short video on how MFN and QALY-based valuation could affect future innovation and patient access.

QALYs, Value Assessment & Discrimination

ICER's Value Assessments Harm Access for Protected Populations
Alliance for Aging Research: A short video explainer on how Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY) and Equal Value Life Years Gained (evLYG) metrics can disadvantage older, chronically ill, and disabled patients.
It Is Time to Let Go of the QALY's Legacy of Discrimination
National Center for Dignity in Healthcare and Community Living for People with Disabilities: Explains the history and disability concerns surrounding QALY-based scoring.
What Is a QALY? Why This Discriminatory Metric Harms Patients
Patients Rising: A patient advocacy explainer on the QALY formula and its potential bias.
House Republicans Vote to Ban Certain Pricing Metrics in Federal Programs
Fierce Healthcare: Coverage of the House vote to extend restrictions on QALY use to additional federal programs.
GCEA Calculator
No Patient Left Behind: An interactive tool that estimates societal value beyond what traditional cost-effectiveness analysis captures.
The QALY Paradox: An Unintended Consequence of Most Favored Nation Drug Pricing
Health Affairs Forefront: Argues that MFN could indirectly import foreign QALY-based valuations into U.S. pricing.

4. Advocacy Watch

Recent developments to follow.

Timely developments from the patient advocacy and drug-pricing policy landscape, courtesy of the Partnership to Improve Patient Care.

Last updated: July 2026

PIPC Weekly Update Archive

Senator Collins Speaks Up Against Importing QALYs to the U.S.

During a June 2026 Senate HELP Committee hearing, Senator Collins opposed an amendment that would use foreign reference pricing to set U.S. drug prices, citing concerns about QALY-based discrimination against older and disabled patients.

AMA Weighs In on International Reference Pricing

At its 2026 House of Delegates meeting, the American Medical Association backed several drug-pricing measures but stopped short of endorsing MFN-style international reference pricing.

The UK Health System: Lessons for the U.S. and the Risks of MFN Drug Pricing

A PIPC report examining how a reference-pricing system plays out in practice and what it could mean for U.S. patients.

Conservative Leaders Sour on Codifying Donald Trump's Drug Pricing Policy

The Hill reports that more than 50 conservative and free-market leaders urged Congress not to codify MFN into law.

Most-Favored Nation Drug Prices Divide Trump, Congress in Health Care Talks

STAT News reports on White House pressure to codify MFN despite a cool reception on Capitol Hill.

HHS Sets Pricing Target for Trump's Most Favored Nation Drug Price Model

AJMC details HHS's initial MFN price targets and the related industry and legal questions.

NHS Patients Face “Worst Drug Shortages” on Record

The Guardian reports on warnings from UK pharmacists and GPs about severe medicine shortages and calls for an emergency government task force.

5. Take Action

Put what you learned to work.

Read & Sign NPLB's Open Letter to Congress

Read and Sign the Above Letter If real-world experience shapes this conversation, add your name to NPLB's open letter to Congress.

Question the Headlines When you hear “lower prices,” ask lower for whom, and at what cost to access and innovation?

Champion Real Solutions Focus on lowering out-of-pocket costs, protecting the patent process, and holding PBMs accountable.

Behind every statistic is a person waiting for care. Support solutions that improve affordability today without shrinking the pipeline patients will need tomorrow.

Championing Real Solutions: The Fight to Fix Insurance

Fix Insurance
No Patient Left Behind: Learn about NPLB's patient-first insurance reform agenda, including proposals to reduce out-of-pocket costs, improve benefit design, and ensure patients benefit from lower healthcare spending.
Fighting for Affordable Medicines and Encouraging Innovation
No Patient Left Behind: Short, shareable explainer on achieving affordable medicines while encouraging innovation.
When Cost Drives Breast Cancer Decisions, Women Pay the Price
BREM × No Patient Left Behind: Survey showing roughly half of patients would stop treatment if out-of-pocket costs exceeded $2,000.
Fixing Insurance Gaps: A Roadmap for Improving ACA Health Plan Coverage
No Patient Left Behind: Report quantifying cost shifting onto patients in ACA Marketplace plans.
Patient Assistance Lookup (PAL)
Search manufacturer assistance programs, copay support, and financial assistance resources to help access your medicine today.
Join the LOOP Coalition
Unite with a growing base calling for urgent, comprehensive insurance reform.

Read & Sign the MFN Opposition Letter

Questions? Want to get more involved?

We’re here to help. Reach out to the NPLB team at hello@nopatientleftbehind.org or connect with any of our webinar speakers:

Heidi Floyd

Breast Cancer Patient & Advocate,
NPLB PAAC Member
heidifloyd@gmail.com

Michael Riotto

Multiple Myeloma Patient Advocate, Coach & Mentor, NPLB PAAC Member
michaelriotto1@gmail.com

Sue Peschin

President & CEO, Alliance for Aging Research
info@agingresearch.org

Sign-On Opportunity

Patients must inform this conversation. Sign-on to our MFN opposition letter, driven by patients, caregivers, and patient/caregiver advocacy organizations.

Read & Sign the Letter Here

DISCLAIMER: References to elected officials, candidates, political parties, legislation, or federal agencies are included solely to inform readers of relevant policy developments; they do not imply endorsement of, or opposition to, any specific candidate, party, or elected official. Bill and model details reflect their status at time of publication and may change as legislation and rulemaking progress — check the linked primary sources for the latest status.