Trump's blueprint forreducing drug costs states that price transparency is important inimplementing contracts under which insurers and pharmacy-benefitmanagers pay based on how well a drug works. (Photo:Shutterstock)

White House staff are reviewing a proposal that may requirepharmaceutical companies to be more transparent about their pricing, a keypiece of President Donald Trump's plan to lower drug costs.

The Office of Management and Budget has received a proposedregulation by the Department of Health and Human Services thatdeals with drug-pricing transparency in the U.S. Medicare and Medicaid systems. OMB typicallyreviews regulations before they're made public. The proposal,posted online Tuesday, was titled “Medicare and Medicaid Programs;Regulation to Require Drug Pricing Transparency.” Little otherinformation was made publicly available.

Related: Merck lowers prices as Trump's attacks on drugprices gain steam

The Senate, meanwhile, is debating a spending bill for HHS.Senators Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, and Dick Durbin, anIllinois Democrat, have proposed an amendment that would fundrequiring drugmakers to post prices on direct-to-consumeradvertising. The senators say the amendment would bring moretransparency. Listing prices in drug ads is a part of Trump'sblueprint to reduce drug prices.

“While we cannot comment on pending regulations, the president's'American Patients First' blueprint to lower prescription drugprices and reduce out-of pocket costs clearly states that HHS islooking at options to require drug-pricing transparency,” CaitlinOakley, a spokeswoman for the health agency, said in an emailThursday. “It should not come as a surprise that this would requirerulemaking.”

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, theindustry trade association, said disclosing prices in ads won'tbenefit consumers because they aren't what patients will pay at thepharmacy. PhRMA also said the requirement could face legal issues,“including First Amendment concerns,” according to an emailedstatement.

Released in May, Trump's blueprint states that HHS may make“Medicare and Medicaid prices more transparent, hold drugmakersaccountable for their price increases, highlight drugs that havenot taken price increases, and recognize when competition isworking with an updated drug pricing dashboard.” The onlinedashboard provides Medicare and Medicaid spending data.

The blueprint states that price transparency is important inimplementing contracts under which insurers and pharmacy-benefitmanagers pay based on how well a drug works.

“We now have an opportunity to do what we all talk about doing,which is doing something about the price of pharmaceutical drugs,”Grassley said on the Senate floor Thursday.

There have been several steps taken in recent weeks to implementthe blueprint. Earlier this month, HHS Secretary Alex Azar saiddrugmakers would be required to negotiate on prices for moreprescription drugs under the Medicare program.

In July, OMB began reviewing a proposal to curb kickbackprotections that allow drugmakers to offer insurers andpharmacy-benefit managers rebates widely blamed for keeping drugprices high. That proposal is still under OMB review.

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