Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America's members pledged Monday that their TV advertising will direct consumers to places where they can get more information about drug prices, but they stopped short of the Trump administration's goal to have those prices disclosed in the ads themselves.

The new voluntary principles unveiled by PhRMA encourage member companies to make publicly available the cost of medicines, including list prices and out-of-pocket costs. Those prices will not be included in drug ads but the ads will contain details about where that information can be found. The industry also will develop a new platform to provide the cost and financial assistance available for many brand-name medications.

"Our member companies are taking a new approach to how they communicate about medicines in (direct-to-consumer) television advertisements to make it easier for patients to access information about medicine costs," PhRMA CEO Stephen Ubl said in a statement. "The administration and Congress have called on our industry to provide cost information in DTC advertisements, and our members are voluntarily stepping up to the plate."

The pledge came the same day the Trump administration proposed a new rule requiring drug companies to disclose prices for some medications in ads. PhRMA's announcement was likely an attempt to preempt that policy change.

The White House believes that price disclosure could lead to lower drug costs. PhRMA believes such a requirement would violate their members' free speech rights and has suggested it would sue the government if the plan were to go into effect. https://politi.co/2IWu8IC

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