Posted by Michael Wonder on 09 Jan 2018
Trump health pick wary of government drug price negotiations
9 January 2018 - Empowering Medicare to negotiate drug prices could leave patients with reduced access to medications, President Donald Trump's pick for health secretary warned Tuesday.
Alex Azar, a former pharmaceutical and government executive, acknowledged to the Senate Finance Committee that drug prices are too high and said he'd work to lower them if confirmed as secretary of Health and Human Services.
But he said allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices across the board would risk restricting choice for patients, since the government would have to establish an approved list of discounted medications.
