Posted by Michael Wonder on 16 Jan 2019
Trump Administration throws down gauntlet on drug prices
16 January 2019 - Another new year, another set of announcements by the pharmaceutical industry regarding price increases for prescription drugs.
Much to the annoyance of the Trump Administration the pharmaceutical industry keeps raising list prices of drugs. At present, without the ability to institute direct price controls, there's little the Administration or Congress can do to rein in list prices. The Trump Administration has made it clear, however, that it won't tolerate business as usual. And, legislators on both sides of the aisle appear to be similarly inclined.
What may spook the pharmaceutical industry most is that in spite of being diametrically opposed on most issues, the executive branch and House and Senate Democrats (along with a number of key Senate Republicans) appear to be more or less aligned on drug prices. In particular, they seem to agree on the fact that list prices matter a lot to their constituents, patients, whose co-insurance is calculated on the basis of list prices.
