Description

To control the costs of prescription drugs, Germany combines immediate access to innovative drugs with price controls. The system assesses scientific evidence on the value of new drugs to determine adequate price ranges. While price controls are supervised by the government, the system is administered by public sickness funds, an independent scientific institute, and stakeholders. The advantages and limits of the German experience were discussed, including lessons for U.S. health reforms.

This event was free and open to the public.

Speaker

{image2}Karl Lauterbach, MD, ScD, MPH

Professor of Health Economics and Clinical Epidemiology

University of Cologne Medical School

Member Deutscher Bundestag

Since 2005, Dr. Karl Lauterbach has been a Member of the Deutscher Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party. A physician by training, he was a Professor at the University of Cologne Medical School where he is still Director of the Institute Health Economics and Clinical Epidemiology. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management.

He has been involved in shaping health care reforms in Germany since 1998, when he began advising the government and Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. Most recently, he became chief negotiator, Speaker, and Vice Chairman for the Social Democrats in the Bundestag. He is currently Speaker for Consumer Protection. He has been deeply involved in more than 100 health care laws in Germany, including payment reform, hospital reform, primary care, long term care, drug pricing, and quality assurance. He has consulted and taught about health care in many European, Asian, African nations as well as the US.