Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Senate Dems Urge Trump To Work With Congress To Lower Drug Prices
Stat: Senate Democrats Urge Trump To Work With Them On Drug Prices
More than a dozen Senate Democrats are urging President-elect Donald Trump to work with Congress and follow through on his campaign pledge to lower prescription drug prices. “The American public is fed up, with roughly 8-in-10 Americans reporting that drug prices are unreasonable, and that we must take action to lower costs,” the lawmakers wrote Trump on Tuesday in a letter that was spearheaded by Ohio’s Sherrod Brown and Al Franken of Minnesota. (Silverman, 12/20)
Reuters: Democrats Seek Trump's Cooperation On Drug Price Reform
A group of Democratic senators took their plans to tackle rising drug costs to President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday, asking him to work with them and Republicans on the issue. In a letter dated Tuesday, the 19 senators named five areas for cooperation: allowing the Medicare program to negotiate prescription prices, increasing transparency, stopping abusive pricing, passing reform on incentives for innovation and supporting generic competition for branded drugs. (Humer, 12/20)
Morning Consult: Democratic Senators Propose Ways Trump Could Lower Drug Costs
Senate Democrats aren’t going to quietly let President-elect Donald Trump forget his campaign promises regarding drug prices. Led by Sens. Sherrod Brown (Ohio) and Al Franken (Minn.), 17 Democrats and two independents on Tuesday sent a letter to Trump outlining ways the two sides could collaborate to lower drug costs: allowing the secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate drug prices; increasing price transparency; stopping abusive pricing; incentivizing innovation; and ensuring competition. (McIntire, 12/20)
The New York Times: Senate Aims To Stop Firms From ‘Buying Up Drugs And Jacking Up Prices’
On the heels of headline-grabbing price spikes on prescription drugs, a bipartisan Senate report on Wednesday will call on Congress to take action to prevent huge, unjustified cost increases on decades-old prescription medicines that have no competition. The Senate Special Committee on Aging, reporting the results of a yearlong investigation, said that some drug companies behaved like hedge funds because of the influence of “activist investors.” These companies, the committee said, have developed a “business model that harms patients, taxpayers and the U.S. health care system.” (Pear, 12/21)
The Hill: Dem Senator Calls For 'War On Drugs'
A new "war on drugs" is necessary to combat West Virginia's opioid crisis, Sen. Joe Manchin said Tuesday. The West Virginia Democrat's phrasing was a throwback to a highly criticized Nixon-era program of the same name. "We need to declare a war on drugs," Manchin said on CNN Tuesday when asked what President-elect Donald Trump should do about the opioid situation. (Hellmann, 12/20)
New Hampshire Public Radio: Prescription Drug Costs Still Rising In New Hampshire
Prescription drugs costs are climbing faster than most other categories of health spending in New Hampshire, according to a new report by the state insurance department. The report found pharmacies collected one in five dollars spent on healthcare in the state in 2015 - that's up over prior years. (Rodolico, 12/20)
For more news on high drug costs, check out our weekly feature, Prescription Drug Watch, which includes coverage and perspectives of the issue.
