Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Some Of Sickest Medicare Patients Could Be Hit Hard In Wallet Under Trump's Plan To Curb High Drug Prices
The New York Times: Trump Plan To Lower Drug Prices Could Increase Costs For Some Patients
When President Trump unveiled his plan to lower prescription drug prices in a Rose Garden speech last month, he said he would inject more competition into the market by bolstering negotiating powers under Medicare. But experts analyzing the plan warn of a possible side effect: The proposal could significantly increase out-of-pocket costs for some of the sickest people on Medicare. At the heart of the president’s plan is a proposal to switch some expensive drugs from one part of Medicare to another part — moving them from Part B, the medical benefit created in the original 1965 Medicare law, to Part D, the outpatient drug benefit added by Congress in 2003. (Pear, 6/2)
In other pharmaceutical news —
The Wall Street Journal: FDA Chief Expects Agency To Play Role In Overseeing Requests For Unproven Drugs
U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said he expects the agency will still decide in some cases whether terminally ill patients can receive unproven drugs, despite a new law intended to weaken the FDA’s power over such cases. The new “Right to Try” law, signed by President Donald Trump last week, allows terminally ill patients to try experimental drugs outside of standard clinical trials, without needing FDA approval and as long as drug companies are willing to provide them. (Loftus, 6/3)
Reuters: Novartis Readies Anti-Sexism Message For Migraine Drug
With women hardest hit by migraine headaches, Swiss drugmaker Novartis is gearing up its marketing message to counteract sexism that it worries might become a barrier to adoption of its new medicine Aimovig. The injectable monoclonal antibody that Novartis has developed with Amgen won approval in the United States this month and on Friday bagged a recommendation from a key European panel, clearing the way for likely approval on the continent. (Miller and Varghese, 6/1)
