DRUG POLITICS - Big Pharma

Pharmaceutical industry, like the health care insurance industry, knows it has customers over a barrel, aka under ransom demand.  'Pay what we want or you die.'  And Republicans will continue to be enablers of these gang-land ransom demands.

"Lawmakers grill pharmaceutical executives over drug prices, but CEOs avoid big pledges" PBS NewsHour 2/26/2019

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SUMMARY:  Health care costs are a major concern for Americans, who spend more on prescription drugs than residents of any other country.  On Tuesday, executives from seven of the biggest pharmaceutical companies appeared before a Senate committee to explain their rising prices.  They were questioned about R&D spending, patent extensions, and their own compensation.  John Yang reports on a contentious hearing.

TRUMP AGENDA - Failure to Lower Drub Prices

"Why the Trump administration isn’t making much headway in lowering drug prices" PBS NewsHour 9/25/2018

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SUMMARY:  President Trump made reducing drug prices a focus of his campaign, and his administration has taken some steps to do so.  But a recent analysis of more than 26,000 U.S. brand name prescription drugs found 96 price hikes for every one price cut in the first seven months of this year.  Judy Woodruff learns more from Elisabeth Rosenthal of Kaiser Health News.

DRUG COSTS - The Middlemen

This is a "DUH?" question.  Of course middlemen drive up costs.

"Do prescription drug middlemen help keep prices high?" PBS NewsHour 8/11/2018

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SUMMARY:  Americans pay more for prescription drugs than any country in the world, and the pharmaceutical industry earns billions in profits each year.  Critics blame Pharmacy Benefit Managers, or PBMs, for a portion of those high costs through their role as middlemen between insurance plans, drug makers and pharmacies—but PBMs say they save consumers money.  NewsHour Weekend Megan Thompson reports.

MEGAN THOMPSON (NewsHour):  So Falkowitz did some research online.  His aunt was taking eight drugs for things like dementia and high blood pressure.  She was paying close to $103 in insurance copays for those drugs every month.  Falkowitz found he could get those exact same drugs for $65, if he paid out of pocket at an independent pharmacy, not using his aunt’s insurance plan at all.  That’s nearly 40 percent less.  Falkowitz manages a medical practice and deals with insurance plans all the time.  He says it was a total surprise.

TRUMP AGENDA - Drug Pricing Scam

Without allowing Medicare to negotiate pricing for ALL drugs, nor allowing Americans to purchase drugs from other countries, this proposal is a meaningless scam.

My 'better' suggestion:  Pass a law that mandates that pharmaceutical companies CANNOT charge more for their drugs than they do in any other nation in the world (except for UN special programs).

"HHS Secretary Azar: Trump’s drug prices proposal is better than campaign pledge" PBS NewsHour 5/14/2018

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SUMMARY:  President Trump laid out his long-awaited plan for tackling drug prices on Friday.  Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar joins Judy Woodruff to fill in the details about the plan, including how it will affect prices under Medicare, why the administration is calling on pharmaceutical companies to list their prices and more.

TRUMP AGENDA - Drug Pricing Plan

"Will Trump’s drug prices plan make a difference for patients?" PBS NewsHour 5/11/2018

NO.  It's missing key ingredients.  Like allowing Medicare to negotiate pricing, or allowing Americans to buy drugs from Canada.

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SUMMARY:  President Trump revealed his blueprint to lower prescription drug prices as he railed against the pharmaceutical industry for making them unaffordable.  Under his plan, "American Patients First," Trump proposes making it easier for generic drugs to enter the market and requiring drug makers to list prices in advertising.  John Yang gets reaction from David Mitchell of Patients for Affordable Drugs.