Yet another Trump proposal that :
—shows no understanding of what the actual problem is (the Europeans and Canadians have negotiated lower drug prices Big Pharma, which Republicans have specifically outlawed for the U.S. ).
— blames Socialist Europe for stealing something from America, an idea that feeds into the resentment his base loves to revel in.
See What Fools We Are, They Are Laughing At Us!
—is quickly abandoned when the incompetent White House realizes the unintended political consequence to his re-election bid by the insurance companies simply increasing premiums and co-pays to cover their costs—duh! The deliberate misinforming of the public of how insurance works and how the drug companies get paid is very helpful in maintaining the status quo.
—seems like a win for this news cycle, is explained in a vague, and contradictory way that screams for— but never is given—clarification until it drifts off into oblivion, like infrastructure, the Wall, N.Korean De-Nuclearization, etc. Ad infinitum.
There is nothing this President does that isn’t self-pitying theater intended to help his image politically. The Mitch McConnells of this world get to prevent any changes that might upset their Big Pharma donors since nothing will change, and that’s fine with them—they’ve successfully staved off the onslaught of change.
As compromises its not the worse one they could have achieved.
12
I am a nonsurgical specialist physician; I am for single payer or maybe a hybrid model like with a strong government option (or control) similar to other industrialized countries.
I was shocked by Trumps EC victory, but I thought at that time that he may be far enough from the health care industry to reign in drug prices. That step, combined with ending surprise billing, would fix a great share of US healthcare woes. After a few months into his tenure, I blamed myself for being so naive and optimistic. Would Trump prove me right at the end and do something useful?
I doubt it. Trump is way too incompetent and weak to overcome the libertarian and industry bought part of congress, which includes quite a few Democrats (including Mr. Booker). It will be just another dumpster fire.
11
According to Alex Azar “The American senior and the American patient have been too long been asked to overpay for drugs to subsidize the socialist systems of Europe”. This statement is absurd and is just the latest example of Republicans trying to demonize any government policies that benefit the average citizen. Other countries prevent drug companies from making obscene profits at the expense of sick patients that need those drugs to stay alive. Republicans encourage and champion greed over the welfare of the average person.
17
When it comes to smart healthcare policy, this President is becoming the Creature from the Blank Lagoon. As to the demise of the Safe Harbor Rule, see here:
https://www.statnews.com/2019/07/11/drug-rebates-white-house-decision/
4
Biggest and first setback is that he probably doesn't mean to have it be successful. Pretend to be helpful and reward his donors at the same time.
23
No doubt, political contributions made by Big Pharma are at the root of this resistance to commonsense drug prices. Insulin is a good case in point. Drug companies charge a fortune for this lifesaving substance which some diabetics cannot afford with fatal results. I believe the original research was funded in large part by the federal government using taxpayer money. Big pharma needs to be brought to heel. In the case of insulin, the patent should be seized by the government, a form of eminent domain if you will, and all drug companies would be free to manufacture the drug whose price would be capped as is the case in many other countries.
13
Simple just allow states to negotiate drug costs. Allow them to partner with other states to work as a block to negotiate drug costs. then let Medicare do the same.
It would mean turning over some laws. Maybe just for once Executive privilege might be for the good. Oh wait, Blue states would use it to reduce drug costs. So it will not happen.
5
Another Trump mess that wasn't properly thought through.
12
My, so many commenters seem happy to see Trump fail. One could almost get the idea that they like high drug prices.
10
Why is the U.S. the only country that allows advertising of drugs on television? We aren't talking simple drugs with few side effects. We are talking about drugs that are dangerous to use without very careful analysis of the disease and the patient. So instead of demanding prices be included in ads, just stop the ads. Trump is not a guy who wants to cut profit. He just wants you to think he does. If profit drops, share price drops, executive compensation drops, and that is all you need to know. Which is preferable? To make sure everyone has access to insulin or to provide it only to those willing to pay the higher price for it? And all those diabetics not getting proper treatment .....do you think there is no cost associated with their diabetes being undercontrolled? No one will 'die in the street'. Their bedroom? Another matter entirely. Keep telling yourself Europe is 'socialist' and America does not want to be like that. They are laughing at you. They have been doing this for years. Here is a way to look at it that Trump supporters can understand. Europeans are like wealthy people not paying taxes....they are smart. Which makes Americans who have allowed our system to get to this point and paid through the nose for pharmaceuticals what exactly? Remember who is twisting themselves in knots trying to keep it the way it is? Oh, Mitch.....Pfizer on line two. Americans....on hold. Which line does he answer?
26
Trump has a winning position here.
He is right to address the pharmaceutical pricing problem simply and elegantly.
Pharmaceutical companies must provide drugs to US consumers at a price equal to or less than other industrialized nations. Simple. Elegant.
It will be hard for Democrats to portray lower drug prices as racist or anti-LGBTQ or any of their usual objections and opposition to such a proposal comes with dire risk.
Do not open the can of corruption that will ensue if we attempt to negotiate prices nationally. Too complicated, too ripe for corruption and too time consuming.
Trump should run with this one.
3
Trump was never going to lower drug prices, the drug companies have to many DC pol's in their back pocket.
If there's one thing Trump won't do, it's bite the hand that feeds him.
10
Lowering the price of drugs is a good idea without regard to who proposes.
4
Here we go again. The stable genius and his army of lawyers once again are outfoxed by the army of health care lawyers and the greed of Wall Street is in play.
The American public are dying and to listen, read this article one again displays that politicians fail to even pretend to care about the public.
No one cares for Bernie and Warren however when they talk I realize that at least two people can address all of the issues associated with health care. They understand what it is to see loved ones die. President Obama spoke about his mom making decisions on what bill to pay and her health care knowing she was dying on her feet.
Trump and his minions could care less, another photo op of caring for him . The rest of the world has coverage and Americans have nothing. Why in the world is this being accepted, because Americans want to believe the con.
7
Drug companies have been overcharging American consumers for decades. It's nice to see a President finally trying to do something about it. It's unfortunate that actually accomplishing anything poses a serious challenge to this President. Still, I wish him luck.
6
No surprise that, once again a “signature issue” by President Trump- letting the American consumer know how inordinately costly their prescription drugs are- has flopped. While Trump may be enamored of some sort of price controls on BigPharma, good luck with that, as the industry has an army of lobbyists and has paid our politicians well. The only answer, proposed by Senator Sanders, is some form of Medicare for All, and we the people will have to force our government to give it to us.
7
@Ellen
Because Obamacare worked out so well for everyone's costs?
3
@AACNY
If you remember the republicans were against Obamacare from the getgo. If they had tweaked it as they should have we would have a better program. But no. It wasnt going to fly..
3
Next time you hear a Republican spout off about free markets just laugh, because that’s all they deserve.
16
I'm an American living in Italy participating in their wonderful health care system. Why can Italy have such a great system and we can't? Greed? Anyway, I use generics for all my prescriptions and they are all manufactured by Italian pharmaceutical companies. So this subsidy of European socialist countries is just another Trump LIE.
36
Great point. European manufacturers are NOT operating at a loss, they are profitable firms. And a lot of pharma R&D is conducted outside the USA - in Germany, Switzerland, UK, France... but I don’t see any of these companies having to charge thousands of dollars for insulin doses so that they can “break even”.
There is absolutely no justification for the prices paid by American consumers, other than total lack of regulation and pure sociopathic greed by a few corporate CEOs.
19
they didn't bring up one of the biggest issues. as a senior if you have medicare advantage you are not allowed to use rebates period. also, the way the medicare drug program was set up by George w. bush along with bill frist from tenn. negotiation was not allowed in the law. plus it depends on the doughnut hole (if the senior is in the hole)or as I call it the hole in the bottom of the sea.
the doughnut is not going to disappear for at least another 15 yrs.
5
So as we approach the end of the 3rd quarter (4th is a campaign write-off) what has this guy accomplished in practical terms? What have he and that mess of a gang known as the GOP built for us? All I see is wreckage and scorch marks. Trump has built exactly nothing. It’s just a reality tv show for his fans who, by the way, will suffer most from his total ineptitude and unfitness.
16
@Ken Nyt
- Tax cut for over 80% of middle income Americans
- Tax simplification (estimated almost 90% will not itemize)
- Small business assistance in the form of 20% QBID and loosening of regulatory yoke
- Landmark prison reform
- Judicial appointments (non-liberal)
- Immigration, suffice to state more than anyone to date
- Lowest African-American unemployment since 1972
- Lower Hispanic unemployment
He has delivered. Period.
3
Mad King Donald loses and backs down once again.
I wonder when he will realize that he is but one third of what makes our democratic republic function and not the head of some empire bearing his name.
5
Trump is learning what it means to confront powerful interests that don't care whether he looks good to his base/ They only care about their money -- you give the old folks a break over here, we're going to get our money back in higher premiums.
The president as very little power over these corporations, which should frighten us all.
11
@JimBob
And the power he does have he is destroying with his executive actions. He too is a self serving, egotist. NO empathy, except for his own enrichment. Read about his business failures. He is inept to have the highest office in our country. His, what is it by now? 10,000 lies thus far should make anyone scared.
5
The title of this article should be " Trump messed up the drug price and does not know how to fix his stupidity" of healthcare industry and drug market for more than 300 millions of Americans.
10
When will the headline read "UK Ambassador right - Trump completely inept."?
19
The Trump administration was actually trying to do something that tangibly benefits ordinary people at the expense of big business? I’m having cognitive dissonance, this is so weird. Surely there must be a mistake.
6
@Andy He wants to look good for re-election and after elected eliminate the little process made via our previous President who, despite having a Republican house and senate, passed some laws that benefited the average American. He had to make concessions that did not make the ACA perfect because of many push backs from lobbyists and the GOP.
7
If it's Trump it is suspicious no matter how good it sounds. I also seem to remember him advocating the elimination of preexisting condition clause in the ACA not more than a year ago. It would seem prudent in this case for the House to devise the plan for him and let McConnell kill it like he does everything else.
3
Hope the president finds another way. He's got the right idea.
6
There's no telling what the government could accomplish if they worked together.
3
The notion that US citizens are subsidizing “socialist” European healthcare is absurd; a red herring.
Europeans, and Canadians, pay far less for drugs because their governments can negotiate prices.
This fact also presents a strong argument in favor of single payer healthcare.
18
@Ralph Averill
The EU process for controlling drug costs is gun-to-head negotiation, i.e., not really negotiation at all. They threaten to impose "compulsory licencing" - granting permission to makers of generic drugs to manufacture them without paying licensing fees.
Just another over promised campaign policy blunder by Donald J. Trump. His next campaign promise to our senior citizens should be a real whopper, or he could go back to his always predictable playbook and just blame the Democrats! A true leader would work across the aisle to benefit all of its citizens, but that isn’t Donald J. Trumps style. It would mean he would have to give a little, in order to receive a good piece of legislation in which he could sign into law. LBJ was a master at it. There’s a term for it: “Compromise”, but that is a dirty word in the Republican Party platform vocabulary. So nothing gets done and we Americans, again, all lose in the long run. Time to finish the job from the 2018 midterms, by keeping the House, and flipping the Senate. Ousting Donald J. Trump from office wouldn’t be a bad idea either. If he continues to fail, our whole country suffers, but it is a price that has to be paid, for this man is not a normal President. Make America Great Again!
3
Mr. Azar's former employer, Eli Lilly, is the biggest culprit in pharmaceutical price gouging. Insulin was discovered and first produced in 1921 by Canadian and Scottish researchers, and the patent was transferred for $1. Through their lobbying efforts, Lilly is able to keep the prices of insulin so high (10x that of the cost in Europe) that US patients are dying because it is so unaffordable. The company has contributed almost nothing to its development, but reaping all the benefits while limiting availability. They are creating a limited supply artificially through regulatory means. No, it is not the freeloading by European countries, but the greed of US corporations that result in high drug prices in the US. There are plenty of European pharma companies that do not sell to the US and still make a very decent profit just operating in the European market.
35
@Adrian Yes I am aware of it. But how does the information across to the average citizen, who thinks a socially conscious country such as the EU, with a capitalistic economy is not communism. How can we wake up our citizens, who are so miss informed about the rest of the world?
4
I am really tired of the "global freeloading" argument. The freeloading is done in the US by the drug companies, which have given hundreds of millions of dollars over the years to members of Congress to persuade them to set up an opaque system that benefits only the drug companies and big healthcare conglomerates. When a drug company can buy the license to produce a medication that has long been on the market and then jack up the price, it is not to recoup "research funding" but to pay higher dividends to hedge fund investors. And if a new treatment is only slightly better than an existing one but costs three times as much, health insurance systems abroad are not "hardhearted" for refusing to cover it. They just refuse to give in to extortion. The US healthcare industry has been getting away with too much for too long. The time of reckoning has come!
44
@Alicia Lloyd
And there are indeed drug companies in other countries. The US is not the only source for R&D in the world. Though as you say for marginal overpriced efforts that might be true.
9
I think I know why President.Trump believed he could rein in drug prices. In his meetings with Big Pharma executives, they must have been talking about medications that lower your blood pressure and cholesterol.
Some executive must have said ‘We will lower it’. Trump probably thought he was talking about the price of the medication. Hey, it happens. Good thing nobody is affected by it.
5
Trump’s Efforts to Rein In Drug Prices Face Setbacks
I wouldn't call "Trump’s Efforts to Rein In Drug Prices"
any efforts at all. He could lower drug prices if he really wanted to, but pharmaceutical campaign funds are a lot more attractive to him than helping out the public. That is the norm for US presidents, and most of our appointed and elected government representatives, regardless of party.
Let's face it, we have to create an underground access route to affordable prescription drugs to stay alive. Just like migrants who have to leave their countries and go to the US for survival. Don't let things fester. Reclaim your power as a living human being, as opposed to a heartless, ruthless, corporation controlling our global destiny. Forget borders, we are all human. Who do you want to win?
9
"The American senior and the American patient have been too long been (sic) asked to overpay for drugs to subsidize the socialist systems of Europe" says the secretary of Health and Human Services. What??? .....What?.... Gobbledegook! I guess he is trying to say the "socialist systems" of Europe have successfully managed to set up a fair and effective bidding system to bring its citizens fairer, lower drug prices. He couldn't have said it better even if he tried which he wasn't.
19
Speaking of rising premiums, always wondering why the government is not working with medical insurance companies to reduce premiums and costs for prescription drugs. Could be wrong but seems there are few if any penalties to insurance companies that are making billions.
3
@Comeuppance. 100% agree!! The insurance companies are a bigger problem than pharma. Pharma produces a product from which benefit is derived. Insurance companies sole purpose is to take more of your money than they give you.
1
In this case I agree with Trump. Medical costs are out of control and bear no relationship to reality. I would go further, any medical facility that receives federal money would have to publish their prices. All patients would receive an estimate of the cost of their procedure before agreeing to treatment. Insurance companies would be prohibited from not covering a cheaper facility as long as the procedure met the patent's needs and the facility was approved by a rating agency.
8
@Bruce1253
a person who has health insurance cant call hospitals to find out which has the cheapest prices for different procedures. due to the fact that insurance gets to say which docs you can go to or which hospitals .
1
@Bruce1253 . It's the only industry where costs aren't provided up front. Imagine buying a car without know the price until after you walk off the lot!! That small amount of transparency is a great first step to managing healthcare costs.
4
@Bruce1253, agree more transparency re medical costs.
2
There is no government infrastructure supporting Trump’s proposals. They are not emerging from lower echelon study groups because there are none. They are not based on careful staff work, because there are no staffs to work on them. Programs are hauled out before the public with bells and whistles as if that is, in itself, the goal accomplishment. There is no follow-through because there is no body of knowledge and legislative understanding to follow anything through.
The Trump government, in short, is just Trump. If it can’t fit into the confines of a tweet, it is too laborious to undertake. If it requires more than a few hours attention between tweet storms, photo ops, and rounds of golf, then it is just too complicated. This is trickle down government with a single, simple problem: the top layer is so thin, there is nothing to trickle down. We have had years of complaint about government waste; now there is just government wasteland, a virtually uninhabited government designed to do nothing to interfere with the all pervasive presence of Trump.
Trump is certainly the most corrupt and immoral individual ever to hold the office of president. But it should not go unnoticed how profoundly incompetent he is. He fails, time and again, because he hasn’t a clue, and does not know how to learn from his failures.
It is probably the single most important quality in a president: to learn from one’s mistakes. Trump does not even recognize the mistakes he makes.
Sad.
46
@Paul McGlasson, I had exactly the same thoughts after reading this. While I agree with the president on the problem, his approach is to try the simplist route - executive order - rather than do the necessary groundwork to develop a well-thought out policy. I guess what's important to him is that it looks like he's fighting for the people. In reality, as you said, he doesn't have the competence or the patience to try an approach that is more robust and effective.
8
@Paul McGlasson
Actually, these actions were dropped because they were predicted to increase Medicare costs. We all know how that would have been handled politically.
Besides giving his billionaire buddies a major tax break what else has Trump really accomplished? He's lost so many cases against that i'm losing count.
5
McConnell said No.
Trump Retreats on Health Care After McConnell Warns It Won’t Happen
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/02/us/politics/obamacare-donald-trump.html
Trump is on a leash. He can best hope for scraps regarding health care and is blocked by Tea Party hate towards all things Obama. If you want change remove McConnell and donate to Amy McGrath.
https://amymcgrath.com/
13
@Mathias
the only thing on a leash is it does have to be legislative. the leash needs to be on trumps fingers and twitter.
Obama: Created Obamacare. Saved the auto industry. Proposed infrastructure program blocked by Repubis. Launched a recovery that still persists. Reduced deficit. No-drama Obama.
Trump: Tax cuts for the rich. Honors for murderous dictators. Chaos among cabinet appointees. Enmity towards allies, friendship toward tyrants. Increased deficit. Circus. Donald Dunce.
23
Let's just sum it all up:
Nothing good for average Americans ever comes from Trump and the Republicans.
Until they're voted out of office - the WH and the Senate - we will continue to suffer their do nothing agenda.
10
It's mystifying why many vote against their interests, then complain when we are violated by special interests.
It's as if the law of cause and effect has been suspended.
Does thinking exist anymore?
6
This is a cheap -- and blatant -- piece of Trumpian posturing. Again!
Trump doesn't give a fig about the cost of healthcare and medicine for seniors -- or for anyone else! That's why he, McConnell, and their gang are so dead set AGAINST the Affordable Healthcare Act. Because they don't care about the "little people" in the USA, their health or social welfare!
And of course Trump won't (can't) say where the funding for this "entitlement" (the Republicans' favorite bogeyman term). More cuts in Medicare or Medicaid? More cuts in federal Education and Housing spending?
And, at the same time, Trump's OWN secretary of health and human services indulges in the WORST sort of willful disinformation about the the sky-high costs of prescriptions in the USA subsidizing Europe's so-called "socialist"!
When we all know the prices we pay for our prescriptions in the USA -- even generics -- actually "subsidize" Big Health and all the heavy-lobbying fatcat CEOs like Heather Bresch, of Mylan infamy, and her $19 million annual salary!
“The American senior and the American patient have been too long been asked to overpay for drugs to subsidize the socialist systems of Europe,” said Alex M. Azar II, the secretary of health and human services. “It’s time for the American patient to stop propping up the socialism of Europe.”
1
ALL drug prices should be tied to international prices. Every last one of them. Big Pharma has made billions if not trillions in profits. Yet our elected officials appear unable to act in the public good. Perhaps they all want to work for Pharma as their next career gig. If this administration can’t take a hammer to drug prices, we should throw the bums out and elect someone who will.
5
@P
it cant be tied to international prices. that would be manipulation of the stock market. plus pretty much all of big pharma are based overseas. . thought trump was bringing all those jobs back.
The pattern is the same, because, the incompetent individual can’t change and can’t learn from previous failures. What did Einstein say about doing the same thing over and over again with failure as the result is a sign of idiocy. So we can count on a list those things trump initiates and then backs off. Whether it’s the wall, immigration, citizenship on the census, aid to Puerto Rico, the list goes on. Failure, failure, failure. His presidency, failure. His bankruptcies, his moral compass, failures. His marriages, failures.
3
How anyone can still defend the idiot-in-chief is just pathetic.
3
Want onto lower drug prices? Shorten the period during which patents are in effect thereby permitting generics to hit the market sooner.
On the other hand, if we do that drug companies will have less incentive to develop drugs.
3
@MIKEinNYC
You switch it around and control prices but extend the patent time. That would give drug companies security in knowing how long they will receive their 'controlled' price before the open market takes over.
1
@MIKEinNYC Big pharma are not necessarily the biggest drug developers. The ‘incentive’ idea is how these drug companies are able to get away with these over priced drugs and their monopolies for so long!
1
America’s present health insurance/health care industry is about profit, from the medical device makers to the pharmaceutical industry to health care "providers", medical administrators to insurance companies.
Republicans (conservatives) do not have any interest in any form of health insurance/health care that 1) involves the federal government and 2) does not promise profit for private industry.
That America has seen that the free market over the last 70 years has not been a success in terms of either insurance or health care cost control is immaterial.
6
The US market drug market is gamed. The bulk of US drugs are made in India or Israel. ONLY Pharma companies can import drugs to US. So Walmart can not buy the drug in India and import it. The reason is the FDA commissioner refuses to certify that the drugs are "safe". The bulk of funds to fight elections for both parties comes from the drug industry. No politician is going to work agains their own interests in cutting off the gravy train. The politicians would rather add more debt and subsidize medicines than force pharma companies to be under price control. Both parties are dancing on coals. Showing they want to do something, but doing nothing. I have been buying Ventolin made by GSK for $1.50 in India. My copay for it is $25. The drug is sold by GSK at $400. Not sure what the hidden discounts, rebates and cash backs to pharmacies is.
8
It would be more honest to describe this as insincerity rather than describing a decision made of the administration's own volition as a "setback."
8
Unfortunately, it is becoming clear that the aim of Trump and his cronies is to throw everyone (seniors included) to the tender mercies of the so-called “open market” in healthcare and pharmaceuticals with no safety net. What do they care if thousands die? They will always have the money for the best care. Trump will always have the luxury afforded past presidents--who receive the very best in care.
Why does anyone think otherwise?
25
Let Mr. President do his job.
Flailing is better than nothing.
These sound like good plans.
6
@JW
They would criticize him if he cured cancer. And he hasn't let himself become ineffective like another president we know who faced tremendous opposition as well.
2
The Trump administration’s health care proposals are a vestigial jumble of incoherent poorly conceived policies. They are used as a camouflage for Trump’s continued evisceration of the Affordable Care Act as health care becomes increasingly unaffordable for the average American. Trump and the Republicans have harmed health care and offer nothing substantial to improve it. Their conduct will be considered by historians as duplicitous and deplorable. It is an accurate reflection of Trump as a man. He is a con artist and an adversary to decency and to humane policies in health care and in every important government endeavor.
24
Trump so right to reject proposal.
"He killed a proposal that would have reduced out-of-pocket costs for older consumers out of concern that it would raise premiums."
As would anyone. Older consumers pay premiums too.
Trump should now instruct his people to only bring him proposals that reduce both out-of-pocket costs and premiums. It can be done.
3
Every industrialized country, except U.S and N. Zealand, sees the conflict-of-interest in advertising drugs directly to consumers - so they ban these ads. This contrast should be page 1 and on TV news, with ripple effects explained.
Another thing many countries ban is election campaign advertising on media ---per Wikipedia—to prevent special interests from dominating their political discourse. Our media doesn't mention this.
It's all related. Campaign ads are our biggest elections expense, paid for big donors -- big pharma among the biggest campaign donors of all.
Legalized, unlimited mega donor money let’s them dominate lawmaking for increased profits. This effectively muffles any influence by the mass of average citizens who can’t afford to compete.
So, we're inundated by manipulative ads by pharma and by candidates. So our political influence is greatly reduced, while our drug costs are greatly increased. TV drug ads have become constant, several every hour on TV on most channels.
The AMA has called for a ban on drug ads direct to consumer on media.
This blatant and newsworthy contrast with other democracies is avoided on TV cable news, NYT reporting and opinion columns. Our media, proud of its freedom, seems to be invested in the big money system that harms Americans in so many ways.
American politics exalts private profit, identifying it with Freedom from Big Govt 'interference.' We the People pay for this every day, in every way.
26
@Meredith
Well said. I didn't know that about campaign ads. Good to know.
@Mathias The UK doesn't allow any politically motivated TV advertising at any time at all. Very tight limits on election spending by parties sometimes leaves the parties with a surplus after an election because they couldn't find a legal way to spend the money.
The power of the Pharmaceutical Companies is enormous. They
have money to hire lobbyists, Spin Doctors , and influence over many congressmen and senators. They will bring out the Socialism card,further dividing the political landscape in this country. Lower prices? It's a pipe dream.
10
He never intended to help anyone at any time ever. Any indication that he has was or is a feint.
25
@magicisnotreal
And if he pulls it off and does lower costs for millions of Americans -- which no other administration has done, let me guess what your knee-jerk reaction would be as a reliable Trump-hater: "He only did it to promote himself." Yes?
4
@JW It's not hard to understand. He doesn't do anything that isn't first and foremost to his own personal benefit. Anything else that happens to result is incidental to him.
3
@JW
I really doubt that Trump thinks of anyone but himself. The Trump administration so far only leaves smoking ruins in its wake. Then Donald Trump has a track record before he was president. There is little in it give anyone hope that he is anything other than just another reality show personality with a dubious past. Fox News is great at promoting illusions. Sadly those illusions do not reflect the truth.
1
Anyone buying expensive and much needed drugs in this country is foolish cause you can buy them in any other country for much less. Just Be sure to know the Real name ( the chemical name). Many meds are manufactured abroad in Europe anyway.
Talk to a Canadian or European pharmacist and learn the truth. I did. For Canada get a formal neatly typed letter prescription from your doctor and get on the bus or plane to cross the border. In Europe see a good physician who can help you.
Remember that some of the drugs you need are actually over the counter in Europe. Investigate! Don’t pay American drug lobbyist who are fattening senator’s pockets.
Till we confront the cheating American drug companies and their congressional cronies go abroad for your medicines. I do.
A registered nurse.
35
Here is an interesting study: It shows that most new medications are not only more expensive, but also no more effective than the old ones. Drugs are seldom re-evaluated after their approval and introduction, so the drug companies are able to insist that sometimes their full benefits are not known, but this study went back and reexamined recently approved cancer medications and also found them working no better than initial estimates.
Aside from being gouged by the pharmaceutical companies, we are barraged by ads for drugs that do not work, dealing with physicians who serve everyone but the patient, to the point we've all been conditioned to be an anxious nation of expensive placebo-poppers. If we're going to talk about "waste, fraud, and abuse", let's begin with Big Pharma.
https://www.studyfinds.org/big-pharma-fail-no-evidence-of-added-benefit-in-most-new-drugs-study-finds/
7
So he killed the only actual thing that would help.
The court only ended a feeble ploy to pretend he's doing something by revealing prices in ads - as if a dying person is going to be able to bargain with a pharmaceutical company or should be expected to decide which medication to use based on cost rather than effectiveness.
6
Thank goodness for liberal activist judges, the only thin strand of sanity remaining saving us from Trump’s total maniacal control. For us to know what the true cost of a drug is before we go to the pharmacy to get raked over the coals? What judge in his right mind would want to let that happen to their corporate masters?
8
The other half of the GOP congress owns the drug companies and get kick backs to help their campaigns. When will the GOP base see they Trump have no intention of delivering an affordable health plan or cheaper drug prices. Why should they we the dumb tax payers offer them free health insurance for life and cheap drugs. Had enough. I have.
2
@D.j.j.k. I think both parties are in it. Obama care did nothing to reduce drug prices. He just made families earning over $250k pay an additional medicare surcharge and an investment tax.
3
Up until 1997 prescription drug adds where not allowed on television, this was the norm.
Prices on drug adds are useless, once again without insurance you are blackmailed to pay the full price or suffer the consequences.
Disgraceful and immoral.
9
" Elect " a Clown, get a fourth rate Circus.
Sad.
11
Inept, bought and paid for COWARD.
3
its clear to see who really owns the country. big pharma and banks
9
The incompetence of your president never fails to astonish.
9
So
Much
Winning.
We're all so, so tired.
11
End direct to consumer advertising.
13
for a trump supporter this is a huge success.
1
Now the dumb Americans are blaming Europe for their capitalist health care system? Hilarious. Enjoy your high prices they are here to stay for you.
13
Who knew that such a loudmouthed moron could prove to be such an idiot?
7
If Trump was serious, he’d back a bill to require that Medicare negotiate prices with drug companies. I double dog dare him! The House would pass it.
5
@Doug Lowenthal There is nothing stopping Ms. Pelosi to introduce a bill, pass it and send it to the Senate.
How pathetic that both parties are so bought and paid for by the pharmaceutical industry that neither can make an inch of progress.
7
It's amazing how stubborn his 40%+ supporters are in remaining to this ignorance, incompetent, irrational, pathologically lying, delusional man.
It is long past the "king has no clothes" awakening.
Lower federal debt. Better trade deals with 12 Asian nations. NAFTA 2.0. Better trade deal with UK. Pesos from Mexico for 2,200 miles of beautiful wall. Tax cuts, 10% for the middle class as recently as October 2018 (ah the halcyon days).
Better health care plans. Lower drug costs.
Then there's Trump's 15 minute fix for immigration policy, introduced and passed by McConnell in the Senate, just waiting for Democrats in the House.
Clean coal and increased employment in the black holes.
Putting Hillary in jail.
Middle East peace.
Deporting 11,000,000 "illegals".
Have I missed anything.
Broken Promises: The Grifter's Rules
2
Well done to President Trump and Mr Azar for at least making attempts to rein in prohibitive drug prices, unlike previous administrations. The problem for America appears to be politically activist judges who use any excuse to block administration initiatives.
4
@Gary
Obamacare (ACA)?
Re: "But many of these plans face stiff opposition from the powerful pharmaceutical and insurance lobbies."
Of course they do. I have personal experience with how they operate, and they are getting filthy rich while we all suffer. As for the entire medical industry, what good is a quality medical system, which they say we have in this country, if we cannot afford to utilize it? We personally pay more for health insurance than we do for our home, and they still deny approval for needed tests, procedures, and medications.
11
If I may, a reprise of the history of Medicare part D: There was a midnight deal struck through the intense lobbying efforts of AARP that prohibits Medicare from negotiating with drug companies for lower prices. It was a scandal then and it is a scandal today. And this senior will never join the AARP as a consequence. [Still] Appalled in Portland.
11
While in theory it seems logical to require hospitals and providers to list the cost of their services but there is no consistency in how a procedure is coded. So who would understand it anyway? How about getting to the root of this issue. If you compete paperwork stating you are using your in network coverage and have received approval for Dr X to perform the procedure then the hospital cannot charge you for any out of network costs. It’s fixed.
6
@JWyly
The root of the issue is the need to remove all republicans from any position of authority in government.
I know we can deport them!
2
Trumps only achievements in office have been to cut taxes for the rich, cut regulations for polluters, kill the deal with Iran making the Middle East more dangerous, kill the climate accord making the Earth more dangerous, erect tariff barriers, threaten the health insurance coverage of millions, appoint unqualified lobbyists to weaken federal agencies and unqualified judges to weaken the rule of law, and give succor to racists, xenophobes, religious homophobes, science deniers and conspiracy theorists.
70
@Xoxarle
That pretty much sums it up.
@Xoxarle
and caging men, women and children.
" ...Medicare part D precluded the gov't from negotiating with drug companies to lower prices. "
Given this brilliant law made by Congress to stymie any chance of being able to get drug prices cheaper (and of course , it would be ludicrous of Congress to actually repeal the law they passed) I suggest the Govt follow the letter of their own law and have the Govt precluded from dealing with the drug companies at all!
Instead it could source all its program drug supplies from Mexico or /and Canada through the current trade agreement recently organised. By doing this , the govt benefits from obtaining American drug needs by purchasing them from their two trade partners who (for some reason) enjoy hugely discounted drug prices versus American prices.
Canada and Mexico would help and then the Govt doesn't have to not negotiate cheaper drug prices and also not deal with the drug Companies at all!
And to make the deal sweeter for Canada and Mexico for doing this , America could agree that with the extra order for drug supplies they now handle for the U.S they could pocket any further discounts THEY negotiate with the drug Companies now that their orders are at the very least Triple the amount they were previously, given they are now buying for America.
The result?
Canada and Mexico are able to negotiate even greater drug price discounts than ever before for their citizens and America receives the cheapest drug prices it has ever had!
Or Congress could repeal its stupid law.
8
"Big. Huge. Coming soon!"
That's Trump-speak for lots of nothing.
24
Trump literally fails at every attempt to govern.
THIS is exactly why electing business men to the office of president is so fraught with hazards for the American people. Of course it does not help if said business man does not read anything, had a 2 minute attention span when being presented with information from his staff and extended staff, and bristles at every negative comment about him and goes into twitter rampages and plays victim, while creating needless distractions from actual governing.
Never let an angry groundhog drive the truck - Bill Murray tried that in Groundhog day and it did not end well.
38
I think you meant a two second attention span.
3
@Chuck
He is your classic trust fund kid failing up.
I have no knowledge an anything he has ever done as a private citizen or politician that was successful.
He stays in the game and gets played because he is one of "them" in spite of the fact they all hate his crudeness and lack of class.
6
I have met the swamp creature and his name is Trump.
15
@Progers9
Sewer creature. It's no longer a swamp.
Let me see if I have this straight:
In order for consumers to actually receive the rebates meant for them, it will cost taxpayers $177 billion over 10 years. Say what?
I admit I'm generally baffled by the "logic" of Trump's big plans and their typical reversals, but this one takes the cake.
19
Why do we allow drug companies to advertise at all? Prescription drugs have no business being marketed to the public. Do we really think drug companies are providing education to the public via hazy-shot commercials? Wake up, America. Doctors should prescribe appropriate meds for their patients in consultation with their patients. Think of how much lower drug prices could be without advertising costs.
75
The only other first world country that permits direct marketing of prescription drugs is New Zealand.
14
@Linda Trout
I also feel prescription drugs should not be marketed, and watching the commercials are torture. However, since they list all the possible side effects (always with cheery music and smiles), the ads have made me even more leery of using a prescription drug unless absolutely necessary. So, in a sense, their marketing backfired with me.
16
@Linda Trout
Why do we allow the constant drug ads? Because our elections depend on mega donor corporate money. It's a system. These ads have increased tremendously in the last few years. Why?
Why can't a NYT reporter or columnist take on this issue, and also our 24/7 TV cable TV yacking analysts discuss this?
Since the US is unique in the world with its high drug prices and high priced elections compared to other capitalist democracies, you'd think this would be newsworthy enough for the NYT and cable TV to make an issue of. The contrast would certainly attract viewers Must be some reason they avoid it.
5
Trump is about making announcements. His supporters consider these announcements as good as real action, counting things he says accomplishments. Like Trump they live in a world of alternative reality.
21
I buy my very necessary medicines in countries outside of America for 1/2 or less the prices here. You can too. The irony is that most of my medicines purchased for much less are produced elsewhere by the same companies over charging us here. Investigate. American drug companies are cheating us.
30
And yet the president is at 46% in some of the latest polls. Seems like some of those drugs, prescribed, don't work all that well.
15
A so-called drug rebate doesn’t even come close to your medicine costs sold for much less in other countries like England etc. Check the chemical name of your meds and buy them outside the USA. You will be surprised and even horrified to learn the same company selling abroad is the very same one cheating Americans.
Yet our administration has not faced down the big three companies in America why? Because they are paid big by their drug lobbies while the public suffers and some of us die needlessly.
We must investigate these lies and stand up against drug payoffs to ruthless American politicians. We must pay fair prices for our medicines like Europeans do. Why aren’t we?
16
The truth is many American doctors prescribe meds without knowing how American drug companies are cheating the public. Check every medicine prescribed for you. Get the chemical name—not the brand name. You will be surprised to learn that often the same American company name provides the drug for much less in other countries. Ask any European or Canadian pharmacy.
Until we Americans educate ourselves about our medicines and confront the USA drug company lobbies we will pay and pay and pay and some of us will die. Inform yourself and stand up for your rights.
A nurse
10
Trump has been bought and paid by American drug companies. Till he is gone and they are punished, buy your medicines in other countries. Some are even over the counter.
Talk to any English pharmacist and get clued in. Go to Canada, Scandinavia etc and find a doctor and prescription there. Enjoy the trip and bring your medicine list (Goggle chemical names please) and go shop elsewhere. Bob Voyage! A nurse.
9
I don’t hear anything from the Democrats in office. Nothing from Republicans either. Maybe the New York Times can publish research that reveals how much each member of Congress is getting from drug companies. Information about Trump, Clinton and Obama should be included.
12
I so agree. In fact, I think that all political contributions made by any special interest group should be a matter of public record and required to be reported by the press in this country. It would alert us to just who we are electing to office and whether we really want them acting as a governing official on our behalf.
5
@John: What's the point in including people who aren't current office holders?
1
The bottom line is that charging for health care is extortion because people will pay whatever you ask.
It's not supply and demand because in that model, the consumer has the option to walk away from any cost they don't like... that option doesn't exist for health care. You can't walk away... or you lose a limb... or an eye... or... die.
You may be a capitalist when you enter this discussion, but you come out of it a profiteer.
---
We have to change our entire system, eliminating capitalism from every step of the health care industrial model.
But we're going to have to go even further... health care, food and housing must all be addressed socially or we're simply not going to survive the coming robot apocalypse.
Automation will be able to do every single human task inside 50 years. How is that going to work for a system built on jobs?
We're right on the edge of catastrophe here... with climate change, automation, and population expansion. Like the government or hate the government, they are our only hope here... and it's also going to take tax dollars.
Two things republicans hate most.
I fear we might be really screwed here...
13
@J
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
You can't do the second or last one without the first one. It is necessary as much as power, water or air for our society to function in a healthy manner.
I totally agre.
Leave this country and get your medicines elsewhere for much less. Look into it, it is easy. Many of your medicines are over the counter in other countries anyway. I Do it why shouldn’t you. A registered nurse.
6
I cringe at every meaningless executive order! This is not governing this is pandering. Trump’s base is being led down the garden path.
10
Translation: Big Pharma lobbyists dropped a bundle of cash in his re-election campaign fund.
29
It’s the lobbyists for insurers and pharmacy benefit managers who won here — not Big Pharma. Big Pharma wanted a portion of the rebates to go directly to consumers but the insurers/PBMs claimed they use that $ to reduce premium charges. They use some of it for that purpose for Medicare Part D plans because they are required to, but for everyone else’s group health plan/prescription drug benefit that is not the case, and individuals with high-deductible health plans get burned when they cannot benefit from the rebates.
2
The Con-Man-in-Chief has once again gaslighted America's seniors into believing he will save them money on their Medicare drug plans. He never intended to really help anyone but talked a good game. It will be interesting to see what the GOP will do when the courts strike down the ACA. They have absolutely no plan to help anyone with health care insurance and could care less about people being dumped off their insurance.
20
One of the reasons other countries pay less for medication is that there is no Direct-to-Consumer-Advertising in the majority of the industrialized world. It is an enormous expense for pharmaceutical companies to advertise, especially on television. If this were made illegal like it is in the rest of the world, prices would come down. The funny thing is, I bet you that all of this advertising directly to the patient does very little to change a patient's management. Total waste!!
Rebates will not reduce costs to the consumer if consumers continue to rely on insurance to cover the costs of medications. Always ask your pharmacist what the cash price is, it may end up being less than your co-pay.
Healthcare reform will have to be a grass roots fight by the American citizens, not by our failed government.
10
Ignore Trump and fat cat drug companies and get your meds in Canada or Europe. You do need a formal typewriter prescription by your doctor on his stationary but it can be done and the meds cost more than 1/2 less. Go to Canada by bus or take your prescriptions with you for a European holiday that will pay for itself. Remember that some meds for which we are ripped off in the US are even over the counter in other countries so shop.
Unless the USA deals with the big profit drug companies here we continue to suffer and some of us will die because of them. A nurse who knows better.
4
On the plus side, my "healthcare" (more accurately, medical-insurance-industrial complex) stock portfolio continues to do very well. Thanks, Republican voters!
2
@Richard Schumacher
You are a big part of the problem then.
4
@Richard Schumacher wow... just wow! You sir are the very definition of " a good citizen".. A stellar example of gonzo capitalism..
Trump's all heart or is it kidney or is it the reverse. In any case he and his administration are all about the Benjamins as in the health care industry profits. Big, huge, shocking surprise. Actually doing something like say 1) clamping down on RX prices for drugs whose development was paid for by taxpayers or 2) repealing the incredibly stupid provision prohibiting Medicare from negotiating RX prices seem relatively obvious steps. Of course the Benjamins will get in the way of both of those proposals.
3
Total for Pharmaceuticals/Health Products in 2018: $282,744,469. *opensecrets.org
With this amount of speech, small, insignificant voters voices are ignored or completely drown out. It's high we fight to eradicate the legal bribery and corruption of our political system
4
Another Trumpian claim that something is easy to fix and then can't fix it. He has tons of them. The trade war will be easy to win. Cruelty and abuse will fix the immigrant issue. And on and on. And he will get re-elected.
2
@RAH
Let me beat Trump to it......
"Who knew drug cost management was so complicated"
Because he always projects his own ignorance and lack of ability onto everyone else.
1
Trump is all foam and no beer.
7
Just call medical insurance illegals and he would assault them daily as criminals. I don’t see any real effort here and typical republicans pushing back without any smack down by Trump.
2
So much winning... His sweet spot seems to be terrorizing immigrants and rolling back environmental regulations. He'll also blame Hillary and the democrats for this latest failure.
6
Another example of how clueless this Administration is. When you surround yourself with buffoons, the chances of coming up with good ideas is non existent.
5
A hollow reed blowing in any hard breeze.
1
Wait! Trump broke a promise?
3
What no executive order here?
1
The only way rebates will help the consumer is if the consumer is NOT using their insurance to cover the cost of a medication. I doubt patients are ready to do that.
Trump could have his shining moment by instead, passing an executive order prohibiting drug advertising (which is only legal in the U.S and New Zealand). Patients being able to see the price of the drug doesn't matter if patients are using their insurance to cover the costs. Ending advertising would put huge sums (probably wasted anyway) back into Pharma pockets giving them more opportunity to lower prices.
6
I had to smile when I read this: “Based on careful analysis and thorough consideration, the president has decided to withdraw the rebate rule.”
When was the last time Donald Trump carefully analyzed or thoroughly considered anything at all? I'm sure he didn't here either.
Get out there and VOTE at all levels. local, state and federal.
82
Democrats won again. Earlier, Trump wanted drug prices to be advertised. That was struck down by the Court. Fortunately, Democrats obeyed the wishes of their big campaign contributors, the drug companies. These outlandish plans by a Republican President to control drug prices would negatively impact drug companies profits.
3
@John: You need to read the third paragraph of the article. "[A White House spokesman said] 'the president has decided to withdraw the rebate rule.'”
4
“Based on careful analysis and thorough consideration, the president has decided to withdraw the rebate rule.”
Translation: The lobbyists got to me and I gave in to their money and influence. Sorry to the poor folks who pick up the tab.
36
Another Trumpian "bait and switch." Unfortunately, the only thing his supporters can see is the bait.
27
Mr. Azar was past president of Eli Lilly a company which rejected another Trump plan to identify costs in TV commercial. You could find no bigger friend of big Pharma than this guy. I could we ever trust him to bring down drug prices when he worked for years to rip off Americans.
16
Trump will campaign for re-election by claiming that his Administration took action to lower drug prices for consumers. He will blame whoever is running against him for raising drug prices.
And he will get away with yet another mammoth lie.
19
This is another push-back for Trump against lowering drug prices, not a set-back.
Old Mr. Reliable reversing policy decisions again with no notice. I personally detest this President mainly because of his unreliable positions he claims and then rejects without explanation. The yo-yo President in action.
5
Why can't Medicare be allowed to negotiate with the drug companies.
You know - the Art of the Deal and all that?
9
...because Trump and his Republican sycophants are being bribed by big pharma to not allow it. Ask Alex Azar - he’ll tell you, under oath, what he did.
6
Democrats rejected Medicare doing that so that they could get the drug companies support for Obamacare. You can easily check and find out that I am correct.
4
A report showing the amount of campaign contributions that politicians have received from drug companies the last five years would be interesting reading. I’d like to know how much Trump, O Connell, Hillary, Schumer, Obama, Pelosi and others have received. Don’t you want to know?
9
No matter what he tries to do to help people some judge or some bureaucrat stops him.
2
@Rich Murphy: Is that sarcasm? Trump himself withdrew the proposal. Read the third paragraph of the article.
5
@Rich Murphy
The judges stop him because what he is attempting does not pass legal scrutiny.
The bureaucrats stop him by paying him.
The End.
3
“President Trump will consider using any and all tools to ensure that prescription drug costs will continue to decline,” Mr. Deere added.
While drug prices are clearly long overdue for a remedy, it is disturbing that the Trump's administration tends to default to executive orders--with the emphasis on "orders"--as its "any and all tools."
Quite in keeping with his inability to govern normally, as in relying on well-thought policy and negotiating with all stakeholders, he quickly resorts to on making unilateral decrees on crucial issues, blusters, backs down, hedges, parries again and then? As examples, look to the messes he made of tariffs, sanctions, and border policy.
Sadly for folks who rely on medications, as with most things it touches, we can we can't expect any positive remedy on this issue from the Trump administration.
15
Rebates have been landing in the hands of the insurers while "consumers are paying the list price through high deductibles."
Here's a novel idea - how about just lowering the dang high drug prices to begin and cancel the rebate program altogether? The folks who need the money the most aren't seeing dime one from either the insurance company or the pharmacy because their medications cost so much AND their premiums aren't getting any lower.
Maybe that's the real plan behind this entire scenario - getting rid of poor people and seniors who can't afford their meds and/or insurance premiums.
31
@Marge Keller Given how Part D pricing works, rebates flow down the bottom line to member premium. So, the insurers don't actually take any of it. Your premiums aren't getting lower because rebates are already baked in, and drug pricing trends have been through the roof.
Getting rid of rebates would make everyone's premium rise, but sick members who use 'rebate-able' drugs would pay less overall. Kind of funny this idea of spreading the wealth around came from the Trump admin (even if it never went through).
Maybe he can now withdraw the tax cut, the tariffs, and his decimation of the EPA, etc.
39
It should scare every single American that drug companies wield such power that not even the President is capable of reeling them in. This is a classic example of government lobbying and undue influence in government. Drug companies spend millions of dollars on lobbying efforts in Washington every year. They have a literal army of lobbyists. It should anger every American that people can even make a living out of lobbying. And a lucrative one at that! We must find the political strength to eradicate undue influence in our government once and for all. If we do not, then the fleecing of the American Middle Class will go on unabated.
24
Who gets the rebates makes little difference to the drug companies. The president’s plan was just misguided and would have ended up costing everyone a lot.
4
True that corporate interests and lobbying wield way too much power in this country but in this case it’s the Big Health Insurers and the Big PBM tri-opoly (Express Scripts, CVS Caremark and Optum Rx) that got what they wanted, not Big Pharma.
2
How people can still believe him is not even a thought for me. But here in FL Rick Scott stole millions from their health care and he was governor twice and now senator. People will lie to themselves to be right.
50
Promises made. Promises broken. Throw another one on the heap.
21
Now, nearly three years into his presidency, and you could make two stacks.
In one would be his promises and in the other would be his accomplishments.
The first would require a ladder to reach the top.
The second a microscope to see.
70
@Didier
I hear comments from people who live around me that they don't like how Trump behaves, but they think that he's done a lot for the country. The challenge is to overcome their firm conviction that Trump has been good for them.
1
Another executive order, another failure.
You'd almost think Trump won't do real laws in fear that McConnell will ignore them.
8
"another setback in his push to lower prices" Is just plain WRONG. Did that writer read the story?!?
There is NO "push" to lower prices!
If you read through the story, the next "plan", if implemented
"would cost taxpayers $177 billion within 10 years."
Your reporting is "misleading" at best!
There is NOTHING coming from the fraud's WH that benefits ANYONE NOT RICH. Certainly rolling over for Big Pharma shows, through inaction, the actual "strategy", which is to kowtow to Big Pharma for campaign donations. It's beyond obvious.
19
Gee, wouldn't it be nice to have a president who had a clue what the heck he was doing from moment to moment?
27
Republicans have got this figured out. The people who support them haven’t caught on or are incapable of understanding they’re being duped. Trump appeared to be actually taking action to reduce drug prices. He knew what he was doing was useless, but “they” didn’t. Abortion is another republican shell game. “We’re pro life”...abortion is a cash cow and rabble rouser for the Republican Party. So, “lookie at all the laws we pass to almost, but not quite, get rid of abortion”. Just follow the bouncing ball...don’t pay any attention to what they’re really doing.
6
We will all be better off once we are finished with these incompetent fools who understand nothing about the financial aspects of the prescription drug marketplace. Rebates are the shiny distraction from the underlying fundamentals. Three-card Monty, anyone?
9
Allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, as is done in Canada, would significantly reduce drug prices and not increase premiums. Can Trump do that by executive order?
20
I don't understand why Medicare, which pays for many drugs, cannot require Pharma to advertise cost info on drugs which Medicare pays for.
At the minimum, why cannot Medicare list consumer drug costs on every drug being advertised (and others) in every national retail outlet?
I know that there are sites to look this up, but they often have bias.
2
If I'm not mistaken, fortunately the VA and a few others are not constrained under this regressive law.
How about an Executive Order (which get used so very frequently) to reverse Medicare's burden, and especially the taxpayers who labor under this rule?
After all, if we reduce the amount patients pay, that money will be spent and improve the economy. If the manufacturers make excess profits on these drugs under this rule, they end up paying little tax due to the lopsided tax break passed awhile ago.
6
"The rebate rule had long met resistance from within the White House, where fiscal conservatives had balked at the potential cost. " - What "fiscal conservatives"? Aren't these the people who are increasing the national debt by two trillion with a tax cut for the rich? Fiscal conservatism is just the cover story for deliberate cruelty.
115
If you get prescriptions from one of the big chain pharmacies, you can see part of this on the price label. You'll see lines for amount you paid, amount your insurer paid and "amount your insurance saved you" The difference between what 'they' paid and what 'they' saved you is a negotiated discount for customers of that insurer. In general, it is paid for with [part of] the manufacturer-to-benefit manager rebates being talked about here. The middlemen benefit from high drug prices and large rebates [to their customers only]. The drug companies benefit from lower nominal prices, with either no rebates or payment of rebates to all customers. Nobody with any power is looking out for the customer. Negotiated rebates favor giant benefit managers, who basically do nothing useful.
32
“President Trump will consider using any and all tools to ensure that prescription drug costs will continue to decline,” said a White House spokesman.
Would Trump consider having the federal government regulate the prices drug companies charge, as is done in most industrialized nations with lower health care costs? Let's face it, the only way for government to control health care costs is for the government to control (i.e. regulate) health care costs. Any other solution is just hoping private corporations will willingly reduce their profits.
38
"President Trump had announced the proposal with great fanfare in January" -- and got lots of positive headlines.
Today, he rescinds the proposal and it will barely get noticed.
Isn't that the point of all this?
165
@Barbara T Yes. Amazed that it came out on Thursday -- they usually save this stuff for Friday to ensure no one notices. I think it's a more important headline than more Epstein re-hashes, but...clearly the Times disagrees.
13
Should we be surprised? Trumps tells people (his base) what they want to hear to get their undying support and admiration. Then he waits until no one is paying attention anymore and reverses his decisions, ultimately feeding his swamp and starving his base. He counts on the fact that his base is not smart enough to actually pay attention to his ACTIONS beyond Twitter and Fox News.
122
..and they've proven they're not..time and time again!
#idiots
2
“President Trump will consider using any and all tools to ensure that prescription drug costs will continue to decline.”
Except this one, because it apparently will cost something. Because spending is better reserved for tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, or silly military vanity parades.
57
Today it's this. Tomorrow it's that. Or the " this " never existed despite evidence to the contrary.
Drug rebates, foreign policy, immigration, job creation, tariffs, treaties and the list goes on.
Even a Supreme Court ruling won't stop this man.
It's really hard to believe a single word that comes out of his mouth.
Ever.
46
Imagine my surprise at reading that yet again, one of Trump’s stooges (I’m guessing Curly) came up with a half-baked idea, Trump got all excited, they skipped the part where anybody thought about consequences, they rolled the thing out with loud self-applause, word got around that it was a fiasco, and they’re now hustling it out the back door.
I’ve already pencilled in time for shock and awe when, in a week or so, Trump denies it ever happened, brags about having fixed the problem, and bawls about how it was all Obama’s idea anyway.
58
When drug companies charge $600 for Epi-pens to use when a child has a life threatening allergic reaction to bees, or nuts, or whatever, do you really think they’re going to work to save money on prescriptions for anyone?
Donald Trump is out of reach in any aspect of healthcare. I know. I’ve been a nurse for years, including case managing, working with insurances and pharmaceuticals, by advocating for patients.
34
“Based on careful analysis and thorough consideration, the president has decided to withdraw the rebate rule.”
Hilarious!
98
@RP Smith
Sad but - oh, so true! Any time the White House claims that a decision was "based on careful analysis and thorough consideration" you know for sure the trump administration is lying through its teeth.
Dear God - when will this nightmare ever end.
8
It must be an interesting, gratifying feeling for the drug companies, to know that they can dominate tRump, with their $billions. They speak his language, and the language of most of Congress, who have far better health care than any of us will ever have.
17
Where is Mitch McConnell on this? He appears to be running the action in Washington. Is he for or against the 90 percent of the real taxpayers? He can help,as he runs the Senate as his own feifdom!
9
He told Trump to drop it the last time he proposed having the senate look into replacing the ACA. He has no intention of doing anything. And Trump knows McConnell holds his leash.
1
"Nobody knew that healthcare was so complicated..."
Like almost everything DJT announces he will do to actually help non-billionaires, it's all hat and no cattle.
28
Wow, it's like they have NO idea of how to do Anything. Presidential Apprentice, indeed.
Sad.
55
I find this statement laughable, “Based on careful analysis and thorough consideration, the president has decided to withdraw the rebate rule.” We all know that the Trump administration is inept.
24
Trump backs off from another promise. He shoots from the lip and finds he can't make good on his word.
10
Is trump pushing for lower drug prices, for real, or just, as with his supposed, farcical business/deal-making acumen, getting big headlines for doing good while behind the scenes, in reality, doing bad?
10
Trump's behavior has made me sick for two years. Looks like lots more people are going to be sick from it in the future.
15
This is what happens when we agree as a society that life and death can be a profit center.
101
Donald Trump,Sr. doesn't understand Big Pharma nor Medicare.
Corrupt crony capitalist corporate plutocrat oligarch welfare Big Pharma lobbied to prevent either Medicare or Obamacare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices.
You either pay too much directly at your drug store or indirectly with you your premium and/or deductible.
It is pitchfork, torch and guillotine decimation time for the new gilded age robber baron malefactors of great wealth of Big Pharma.
What should embarrass and shame Americans is what is legal.
Access to quality affordable healthcare is a human right in any civilized country.
America is a royal barbarian medical care nation for the privileged and powerful few.
17
As an epidemiologist, who has been in health care for 40 years, the 25 in the pharmaceutical company and working closely with Health Economists, the conclusion is obvious. The United States has the highest health care costs, outcomes (such as morbidity and mortality) that are mediocre and one of the least efficient systems. Clearly, the US's supposedly free market approach does not work. While it is easy to blame the pharmaceutical companies and they are clearly part of the problem, everyone involved within the health care system shares responsibility, Unfortnately, the needs of the patients and population as a whole come second to health care providers protecting their interests. As a group, we health care providers are not willing to make the short term sacrifices to improve the system and improve health care for patients, the populaton and providers, in the long term.
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@Michael A
This is why I'm terrified of having to go into long-term care. The good stories about humane and affordable care for the elderly and the dying are very few and far between. Far too prevalent are the scary stories.
8
@Michael A
Agreed.
The fee-for-service model encourages profits over patients. Studies should be done comparing costs/outcomes of Medicare patients cared for by salaried physician groups committed to evidence-based care paid by CMS vs. those cared for by fee-for-service doctors. This would also circumvent the need for claims processing, further reducing costs.
However, expectations of the American patient will also need serious adjusting. No skin in the game will lead to over-utilization and cost overruns.
6
Again, the consumer looses.
I am so glad our (not mine) elected leaders are looking out for us.
5
Hey Donald, who knew healthcare could be so hard? George W's Medicare part D precluded the gov't from negotiating with drug companies to lower prices. Another example of how our law makers kowtow to the corporate interest over that of the citizen consumer.
203
Still waiting for that big beautiful health care plan Trump promised during the campaign, that one that would “take care of everybody” and would extend “insurance to everyone.” I’m also waiting for the infrastructure bill, the one that would bring jobs to the working class while repairing our deteriorating bridges and roads. Guess that was another idle promise, too. Yup, but he did give tax cuts to the rich, and his family and Mitch’s family are doing great.
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@Thomas Pain: We'll see his health care plan right after we see his tax returns.
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It paynes me to confess I’m replying to this comment only because it’s the highest rated among dozens to which it is in essence identical. Bashing Trump is like wearing deodorant - it’s always appropriate, if rarely original. By now D-rex’ evil ulterior motives are news to no one who can spell “NYT.” However Mr. Bread may rest assured that I’m not picking on him in particular, as I’ve a fondness for the erstwhile Iron City. Go Bucs!
My greater concern, though, is that the article leaves me unsure as to the merits of the policies discussed. Regardless of the sincerity or cynicism with which they were proposed, are opposed, and may be withdrawn, my effort to understand them was completely sincere, and some people in New Jersey seem to feel that it’s not my math skills that are wanting.
This, then, is another appeal to the Gray Lady to ask reporters familiar with the small slice of healthcare on which they are reporting to BACK UP a few steps and give us unwashed readers enough “dumbed-down” background info to help us fit that slice into the $3T US healthcare pie.
Please do not double the impact of Donald Trump’s contribution to the demise of US healthcare by making it possible for Democrats to tell us no more about their programs than “it’s not Trump’s!”
2
So, if I read this correctly, American consumers continue to pay high costs for drugs, and the insurers get rebates on those same drugs, while charging high medical insurance premiums?
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@mariamsaunders No, rebates are effectively a pass-through item for the health insurers to premiums (given how Part D pricing works). Premiums and drug prices are high because of the high cost trends (manufacturers increasing prices year-over-year).
2
@Carl
Pass-through from whom and to whom?
If the rebate program is to remain in the discussion, a diagram may be useful.
I feel I owe it to you to have had low math scores, but I’m unable to have done so. Explanations of just about everything in the healthcare economy are no harder than multiplication and division, but the terms being multiplied and divided are not very carefully defined, or perhaps very carefully not defined.
7
"Nobody knew that healthcare was so complicated." - DJT
36
Everyone who says it’s complicated should have their office desk placed in the middle of one of those factory chicken farm batteries for a month.
The Affordable Medications Act was introduced last month by Senate Democrats. Read it. Much more comprehensive than this Trumpian plan that was sure to fail. Will Mitch let the Democratic plan go through the Senate?
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@Opinionator no
6
The corruption that exists in the Pharma business is profound. On one day they are receiving research grants to develop drugs and on the next day they have a patent that allows them to gouge the public for work subsidized by tax paying citizens.
Take away their patents and establish non profit pharmaceutical resources. The money spent by the feds on manufacturing public drugs is surely cheaper than paying these scoundrels.
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@Mike ryan
The corruption exists in all big business is profound.
3