Trump advisers pursue Democratic drug-price ideas as campaign looms
Source: wash post
July 2 at 11:41 AM
President Trump was apoplectic about drug prices once again. A Wall Street Journal story in early January, picked up by Fox News, reported that prices on hundreds of drugs were going up — a slap in the face to a president who had campaigned on lowering costs and accused the pharmaceutical industry of “getting away with murder.”
At a Jan. 6 Camp David meeting, Trump fumed about Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, whom he had charged with lowering drug prices, according to three people with knowledge of the conversation. Two days later in the Oval Office, a nervous Azar, who had just returned from vacation, detailed the intricacies of what he was doing to lower prices, leaving the president bored and impatient, according to people close to the situation.
“I don’t understand a word you’re saying,” Trump interrupted. “And no one else will, either.”
As Trump presses to make health care a central plank of his 2020 reelection bid, such episodes point to his mounting frustration with those he thinks are thwarting his ability to deliver on a major campaign promise: lowering drug prices. That has included Azar, a former drug executive who once pushed back on proposals to import lower-cost drugs from Canada and negotiate drug prices in Medicare. Now, though, under intense pressure to deliver campaign talking points, Azar is reversing his long-standing opposition to ideas traditionally espoused by Democrats and reviled by most Republicans and the drug industry.
“Inspired by the president’s passion, Secretary Azar has been pushing FDA to go even bigger and broader on importation,” one senior administration official said Monday. The official declined to detail specific policy changes..........................................
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/trump-advisers-pursue-democratic-drug-price-ideas-as-campaign-looms/2019/07/02/5d21319a-9846-11e9-8d0a-5edd7e2025b1_story.html?utm_term=.70284f093856
Oink!! Politico wants to give Trump some credit. #FAIL!
Drug prices persistently rising despite Trump efforts https://politi.co/320RmXe
Drug prices in 2019 are surging, with hikes at 5 times inflation https://www.cbsnews.com/news/drug-prices-in-2019-are-surging-with-hikes-at-5-times-inflation/ via @cbsmoneywatch
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