Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
HHS Chief Seeks To Rally Support For Trump's Lackluster Drug Price Plan
The Hill: Trump Official On Defensive As Critics Scoff At Drug Plan
President Trump's health chief is struggling to show that the administration is serious about taking on drug companies after its proposals for lowering prices last week left big companies relieved and even spurred an uptick in their stock prices. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar insists that the companies are misreading the administration's plan and that it will bring down drug prices. (Sullivan, 5/19)
The New York Times: Trump’s New Health And Human Services Secretary Is A Joyful Regulator
Alex Azar, President Trump’s new man running health policy, was waving a Pilot ballpoint in front of a room full of reporters. “This pen has a lot of power,” he said, smiling at his own joke. He is right. As Health and Human Services Secretary, Mr. Azar does have a lot of power to change health policy, without having to go through Congress. And in a sharp break from his predecessor — and from most Trump cabinet secretaries — he seems to be relishing the chance to write new regulations, rather than just crossing out Obama-era ones. (Sanger-Katz, 5/18)
Meanwhile, one newspaper is doing a deep dive into how drug prices are set —
Columbus Dispatch: Powerful, Secretive Middlemen Affect Drug Prices
For an independent pharmacist, those close relationships [with customers] are vital to staying in business. But what the pharmacist can’t share with customers is the rationale behind the prices they pay for their prescription drugs. He can’t explain how, under the drug-pricing system he’s effectively forced to use, he winds up charging some customers the maximum allowed by a pharmacy benefit manager to make up for the losses he takes on other prescriptions with lower reimbursements set by the same pharmacy benefit manager. That system, and what his customers are charged, is largely created and controlled by pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs. (Sullivan, 5/19)
