Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Biden May Borrow Germany's Approach To Drug Pricing; Despite Trump's Claims, Drug Prices Are Climbing
FiercePharma: Biden Looks To Germany For Answers On How To Tackle High U.S. Drug Prices: Analyst
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is offering clues about how his administration would approach drug pricing—and he's looking to Germany. Under Biden’s plan, the government would set up a group to assess “fair” values of drugs, like the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review already does in the U.S. Other governments have their own drug value assessment agencies, but ICER is not a U.S. government group. Biden made the proposal Sunday night, Bernstein analyst Ronny Gal wrote in a note to clients. (Sagonowsky, 10/20)
Capital and Main: Trump Touts His War On Drug Prices As Costs Continue To Climb
As the days to Nov. 3 dwindle down, the president of the United States has been hand selecting his points of emphasis for rallies and Twitter posts. Often, those choices go against the wishes of his own advisers. Veering away from core issues, Donald Trump has repeatedly invoked Hunter Biden’s name, doubled down on unsupported allegations of mail-in ballot vote fraud, suggested he’ll leave the country if he loses the election and repeated debunked claims that masks are not effective in preventing COVID-19.At most stops, however, Trump has at least attempted to broach one topic that pollsters have repeatedly found to be resonant with voters: the high cost of prescription drugs. And time and again, Trump has not only promised to cut them – “Drug prices will be coming down 80 or 90 percent,” he said during the first presidential debate – but insisted that, functionally, he has already done so. (Kreidler, 10/27)
Forbes: What Biden And Trump Would Mean For Older Voters
As with so many issues, there is a major gulf between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden when it comes to issues that directly affect older adults. Biden has proposed a long list of specific proposals. Trump has said remarkably little about what he’d do in a second term, and that silence extends to programs that affect seniors. But over the past four years he has described several initiatives that he could address starting next year. Here is a quick rundown of where each candidate stands on Medicare, Social Security, long-term care, and health insurance for older working adults. (Gleckman, 10/26)
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Stat: Can A Laser Focus On Insulin Prices Take This Advocate To Congress?
Quinn Nystrom’s first campaign ad slammed her opponent for voting against legislation to lower prescription drug costs. So did her second ad. And her third. Nystrom, a 34-year-old with type 1 diabetes, is waging a spite campaign of sorts against her congressman, Pete Stauber. She launched her bid to unseat the freshman Republican after he backed away from a promise to hold a town hall on insulin affordability in their district, Minnesota’s 8th, a 27,000-square-mile expanse that runs from the Ontario border to the outer suburbs of the Twin Cities. (Florko, 10/27)
