- HHS Pick at Odds with Trump's Rhetoric on Drug Prices Roll Call by Andrew Siddons — President Donald Trump's tweet Monday announcing former pharmaceutical executive Alex Azar as his choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services boasted that Azar "will be a star for better healthcare and lower drug prices!" But Azar, who led drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co.'s United States operations from 2012 until earlier this year, has contributed significantly to the pharmaceutical industry political spending that the president has decried. When Trump spoke about the high price of prescription drugs at a White House press conference in October, he spoke of how drug companies "contribute massive amounts of money to political people." Overall, since 2000, Azar has spent at least $105,000 on political contributions, according to Federal Election Commission records.
- Lawmakers Push Bill to Reverse a Trump Rule over Medicare Drug Discounts Stat by Ed Silverman — A group of lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill to reverse a Trump administration rule that would cut Medicare reimbursement for medicines purchased under the federal 340B Drug Discount Program, which was designed to boost revenues for hospitals that primarily serve low-income patients. The cut is estimated to save Medicare and its beneficiaries about $1.6 billion next year. The sponsors were among dozens of lawmakers who two months ago wrote the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to argue that cutting reimbursement is a "misguided policy" that would limit the ability of hospitals to serve vulnerable patients. They further maintained the move would not reduce drug costs, as the pharmaceutical industry has suggested.