Posted by Michael Wonder on 17 May 2018
Alex Azar calls Democratic reforms to lower drug prices ‘gimmicks’ and ineffective
16 May 2018 - Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Wednesday gave a sharp rebuke to Democratic reforms to give Medicare the power to directly negotiate for lower drug prices and let Americans buy cheaper drugs from Canada.
Azar’s comments during an event held by the American Enterprise Institute comes as the administration has taken heat from Democrats for not including their reforms in a major plan to combat high drug prices.
Azar said that HHS would bring negotiation capability to Medicare Part B, which is the section that reimburses doctors for drugs administered in a physician's office, such as chemotherapy.
