Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Pharma Execs Balked At Trump Administration's Plan To Send $100 Cash Cards To Seniors
The New York Times: A Deal On Drug Prices Undone By White House Insistence On ‘Trump Cards’
After months of heated accusations and painstaking negotiations, the White House and the pharmaceutical industry neared agreement late last month on a plan to make good on President Trump’s longstanding promise to lower drug prices. The drug companies would spend $150 billion to address out-of-pocket consumer costs and would even pick up the bulk of the co-payments that older Americans shoulder in Medicare’s prescription drug program. (Martin and Haberman, 9/18)
Forbes: Prescription Drug And Healthcare Costs Are Rising
Over the last 100 years, the practice of medicine has come a long way. More focus on evidence-based research, new innovations in medical technology, and novel therapeutic and treatment methods are just some of the ways that modern medicine has been able to increase both quality of life and the average life expectancy of society. However, one major area of concern in the last decade has been prescription drug pricing. (Balasubramanian, 9/21)
Bloomberg: Drug Prices
Americans spend more on prescription drugs — average costs are about $1,200 per person per year — than anyone else in the world. It’s true that they take a lot of pills. But what really sets the U.S. apart from most other countries is high prices. Cancer drugs in the U.S. routinely cost $10,000 a month. Even prices for old drugs have spiked, as companies have bought up medicines that face no competition and boosted charges. While private insurers and government programs pick up the biggest share of the bill, high drug costs are ultimately passed on to members of the public through the premiums they pay to keep their insurance policies active and the taxes they pay to the government. In a February poll, nearly a third of respondents said a candidate’s position on lowering drug costs was the most or among the most important issues influencing their vote in the November general election. (Langreth, 9/16)
The Washington Post: The Health 202: Trump Keeps Claiming He Lowered Prescription Drug Prices. But That Is Largely Not True
President Trump clearly wants Americans to believe he has axed the nation’s costly drug prices, as Election Day nears. Over the past two months, the president has tweeted 18 times that he has lowered — or will lower — the cost of prescription drugs. (Winfield Cunningham with Ellerbeck, 9/18)
