Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
HHS Nominee Sticks To Conservative Talking Points On Drug Prices: 'There's No Silver Bullet Here'
The New York Times: Trump Likes Drug Price Negotiations; His Nominee For Health Secretary Doesn’t
Alex M. Azar II, President Trump’s nominee for secretary of health and human services, said Tuesday that he was wary of proposals for the government to negotiate drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries, an idea endorsed by Mr. Trump in the 2016 campaign. But Mr. Azar said that in some situations, he was willing to look at proposals to negotiate prices for a limited number of medicines. (Pear, 1/9)
The Associated Press: Trump Health Pick Wary Of Government Drug Price Negotiations
Alex Azar, a former pharmaceutical and government executive, acknowledged to the Senate Finance Committee that drug prices are too high and said he'd work to lower them if confirmed as secretary of Health and Human Services. But he said allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices across the board would risk restricting choice for patients, since the government would have to establish an approved list of discounted medications. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 1/9)
Stat: HHS Nominee Azar Signals New Line Of Attack On Drug Prices
In that first hearing, Azar stuck to traditionally conservative policy ideas like encouraging the development of more generic drugs, including “a viable and robust biosimilar market,” and limiting abuses of the patent system. This time, however, he hinted that he is open to other policies that might go further to address the list prices that drug makers charge. “There’s no silver bullet here, though, I want to be very clear. There’s not one action that all of a sudden fixes this,” he said. (Mershon, 1/9)
Reuters: Health Secretary Nominee Indicates Support For Medicaid Overhaul
Azar appeared before the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, which will ultimately decide whether to move his nomination forward. Azar also vowed to uphold Obamacare as long as it remained the law but said that the program needed changes. "I believe I have a very important obligation to make the program work as well as possible," Azar said during the wide-ranging hearing that lasted more than two hours. "What we have now is not working for people." (Abutaleb, 1/9)
The Wall Street Journal: Trump HHS Nominee Defends Pharmaceutical-Industry Ties At Senate Hearing
Mr. Azar said in a hearing before the Senate Finance Committee that his past position as president of an Eli Lilly & Co. affiliate gives him a unique advantage in tackling drug costs. “From having worked for the last several years in that space—this is such a complex area, the learning curve for any other individual would be so high,” Mr. Azar said. Bringing down consumer prices would be a central goal, he said, adding, “There is no silver bullet here, I want to be very clear.” Democrats said they had concerns about Mr. Azar’s views on the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid spending, as well as his tenure in the pharmaceutical industry. (Armour, 1/9)
The Hill: Dems Quiz Trump HHS Nominee On Drug Pricing
The panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), laid out the Democratic argument against Azar during his opening remarks. Wyden pointed to four different drugs, including ones for heart disease and ADHD, saying they more than doubled during Azar’s tenure at the company. “This morning the committee will likely hear that this is just the way things work — it’s the system that’s to be blamed,” Wyden said. “My view is, there’s a lot of validity in that. The system is broken. Mr. Azar was a part of that system.” (Roubein, 1/9)
Kaiser Health News: HHS Nominee Vows To Tackle High Drug Costs, Despite His Ties To Industry
Azar countered that the nation’s pharmaceutical drug system is structured to encourage companies to raise prices, a problem he said he would work to fix as head of HHS. “I don’t know that there is any drug price of a brand-new product that has ever gone down from any company on any drug in the United States, because every incentive in this system is towards higher prices, and that is where we can do things together, working as the government to get at this,” he said. “No one company is going to fix that system.” (Huetteman, 1/9)
The Washington Post: Senate Finance Committee Evaluates Alex Azar To Be The Next HHS Secretary
The minority party’s efforts during the Senate Finance Committee hearing did not appear to halt his path toward joining the president’s Cabinet. Republicans bestowed superlatives on Azar and highlighted his senior roles at the Department of Health and Human Services for a half-dozen years in the early 2000s. And during nearly 2½ hours of questioning, the nominee delivered a polished, informed performance in the witness chair, assuring senators, who have at times felt slighted by administration officials, that he is eager to work with them. (Goldstein and Eilperin, 1/9)
Politico: Trump's HHS Pick Appears To Be On Track For Confirmation
The expected confirmation of Alex Azar, who appeared before a Senate panel Tuesday, would put the conservative policy expert in charge of rewriting the rules of the U.S. health care system with a broad mandate to use the powers to the fullest. And following a tumultuous year marked by failed Obamacare repeal efforts and the abrupt resignation of Trump’s first HHS secretary, Republicans think Azar can ably get the Trump administration’s health agenda on track. “Mr. Azar will be the administration’s primary policy driver,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said during Azar’s confirmation hearing. “I believe his record shows that he is more than capable of leading HHS through these next few consequential years.” (Cancryn and Karlin-Smith, 1/9)
