President Trump Meets with Democrats on Drug Prices

President Donald Trump recently met with several Democratic lawmakers regarding rising drug prices, including Representative Elijah Cummings and Peter Welch. Representative Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has been an outspoken critic of the pharmaceutical industry and drug pricing. During the meeting, which was also attended by HHS Secretary Tom Price and Dr. Redonda Miller, president of Johns Hopkins Hospital, President Trump allegedly told the lawmakers that he is interested in taking action with respect to U.S. drug prices and believes it may be an area of potential bipartisan agreement as both parties continue to resolve healthcare issues and concerns in America. Cummings and Welch presented President Trump with a bill to allow Medicare to directly negotiate drug prices with manufacturers. The proposed legislation would allow Secretary Tom Price to negotiate lower prices with drug manufacturers under Medicare Part D, which provides coverage for prescription drugs purchased at pharmacies. An estimated 41 million Americans are covered under Part D, which is provided through private insurers who each have their own list of permitted drugs, and typically use pharmacy benefit managers for drug purchasing. Representative Cummings left the meeting feeling optimistic, saying, “He made it clear to us that he wanted to do something,” and that Trump was “aware of the problem” and “enthusiastic.” "He was clearly awar...
Source: Policy and Medicine - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs