Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: Cutting Down On Bad Patents Can Help Drug Prices
The Washington Post: Biden Can Lower Drug Prices Without Congress Doing Anything
Though President Trump spent the past four years railing against drug manufacturers, his administration had little success in curbing pharmaceutical prices. In 2019 alone, Americans spent an astonishing $82 billion out-of-pocket on prescription drugs. That’s an 11-percent increase since 2015. This has real human costs: A recent Washington Post investigation found Americans risking their lives because they cannot afford modern insulin treatments. A divided Senate may struggle to address rising drug prices, but the Biden White House can fix one of the most broken aspects of our drug system with no help from Congress. It can give out fewer bad patents. (Doni Bloomfield and Aaron S. Kesselheim, 1/5)
Also —
The Wall Street Journal: Trump Proved The Stagnationists Wrong
In a series of changes, some of them a half-century overdue, Mr. Trump also helped remove government obstacles to innovation and competition in health care. Democrats will tell you that the first calendar-year drop in retail prescription drug prices in 46 years was mere coincidence, not the result of deregulation. Mr. Trump’s first redirection of the Food and Drug Administration proved to be a warm-up act for Operation Warp Speed, which shocked the “experts” who predicted there was no way a Covid-19 vaccine could be approved in 2020. (Casey B. Mulligan, 1/5)
The Detroit News: Trump's Drug Pricing Plan Promises To Hurt Americans
His days in the White House may be numbered, but that didn't deter President Donald Trump from handing down his most sweeping health care reform to date. The president recently announced the final rule for his "Most Favored Nation" executive order, which requires Medicare to pay drug makers no more for certain medications than nations with wealth comparable to ours pay. (Kenneth E. Thorpe, 1/6)
