Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: Trump's Plan For Prescription Drug Prices
Los Angeles Times: Trump Has Achieved Nothing On Drug Prices
If the Republican National Convention is any guide, you’re going to be hearing a lot in the next two months about how President Trump has brought down drug prices. “Now, I’m really doing it,” Trump said on Day 1 of the RNC last week. It wasn’t the first time he patted himself on the back for fighting Big Pharma. (Michael Hiltzik, 8/31)
Los Angeles Times: Trump And Drug Companies Have Secret Plans To Lower Prices
One thing Republicans and Democrats agree on is that drug prices are too darn high. So it should be offensive to all that President Trump and the drug industry are competing to offer the most disingenuous plan for making prescription meds more affordable. Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, the drug industry’s lobbying group, reportedly submitted a memo to Trump this week aimed at countering his proposal to link the U.S. prices of some drugs to lower costs abroad. (David Lazarus, 8/27)
The Nashua Telegraph: Trump Administration Should Reject Foreign Prescription Drug Price Controls
In responding to the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump has rightly focused on the tremendous innovative capacity of American businesses — first by waiving regulations that impose unnecessary burdens, next by providing incentives to get tough jobs such as vaccine development done as quickly as possible. That’s why it was so disheartening to see the recent Executive Orders on prescription drug pricing. They point in exactly the opposite direction: toward more government intervention in a way that will reduce access to the latest treatments and stifle innovation. (Pete Sepp, 8/28)
Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Prescription Drug Costs Can Be Lowered By Medicare Administrators
President Donald Trump recently signed executive orders to take on drug prices, working to fulfill one of his signature campaign promises. To keep this momentum moving, President Trump, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma can take administrative action now to lower the costs seniors face on the most expensive drugs. (John Michael O'Brien, 8/22)
