Trump health chief presses Congress to pass drug discount plan

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar is pressing Congress to pass a bill to completely upend the way prescription drugs are purchased through private insurance.

Azar’s remarks come on the heels of a new proposal from the Trump administration that would eliminate Medicare rebates paid by drug manufacturers to insurers, and give them directly to patients at the pharmacy counter.

Azar said he wants Congress to go further and apply the change to the private market.

“Congress has an opportunity to follow through on their calls for transparency, too, by passing our proposal into law immediately and extending it into the commercial drug market,” Azar said Friday during a speech at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/428084-trump-health-chief-challenges-congress-on-drug-discount-plan

[GeorgeGist]

1. Step 2 ...

tax those rebates as income. Voila the rich continue to get richer and the rest of us poorer.

[ooky]

2. Step 2a

Insurance premiums go up.

[Demsrule86]

3. What about workplace insurance and those who have the ACA?

They will merely double down on non- Medicare insurance.

[octoberlib]

4. Statement from Nancy Pelosi:

Link to tweet

The Trump Admin's proposed changes to prescription drug rebates in Medicare could mean most Medicare beneficiaries could face higher premiums & total out-of-pocket costs — and Big Pharma could see even bigger profits.

[ooky]

5. Yup.