Although lawmakers and President Trump have talked a good game about bringing down prescription drug prices, they’ve managed to take few, if any, steps toward that goal. Trump’s most dramatic proposals — tying the price of certain Medicare drugs to their prices overseas and barring payments from drug manufacturers to middlemen — have either been dropped or held up by internal bickering. And a Senate committee’s proposal to rein in drug price hikes, which garnered a rare degree of bipartisan support, has been stalled by opposition from Republican senators. Drug manufacturers often argue that their prices aren’t the big issue for consumers, given that prescription drugs have steadily accounted for only about 10% of U.S. healthcare spending. But as shown by proposals from the White House and the Senate’s health committee, there is a consensus emerging around the need to reduce drug costs and tie prices to value.

Source: Los Angeles Times December 13, 2019 11:03 UTC