Capitol Perspectives

31. Rollout Begins Of Trump’s Drug Blueprint 9/24/2018

    The Trump administration disrupted the typically sleepy August recess with a frenetic release of proposals that implement components of its “Blueprint” on drug pricing. Physician and patient advocates expressed concern that these proposals may result in impaired patient access to needed drug therapy.

32. Democrats And Trump Focus On Pharmaceutical Pricing 8/23/2018

    As the midterm elections approach, with the trajectory pointing toward increasing likelihood of the Democrats taking control of the House of Representatives and with each Trump tweet on drug pricing, a feeling of foreboding has settled over the pharmaceutical industry.

33. Reviving The Antibiotic Sector 7/25/2018

    A few weeks ago, Novartis became the latest Big Pharma company to depart the antibacterial field, joining Allergan and The Medicines Company, both of which — even though they manufacture the leading critical-need products — have soured on the lousy returns related to this therapeutic area.

34. Medicare Advantage: The Solution To Value-Based Care 6/22/2018

    As Congress grapples with complex ways to provide greater care coordination for seniors with multiple chronic conditions and value-based reimbursement schemes for prescription drugs, an obvious solution is being fundamentally ignored: greater enrollment in Medicare Advantage (MA).

35. Trump Unveils Drug Reforms: Rebates To PBMs At Risk 5/22/2018

    After months of delay and suspense, in a Rose Garden ceremony, President Trump and HHS Secretary Alex Azar announced a comprehensive approach to prescription drugs, which they claimed would address major challenges.

36. Congress Tackles The Opioid Crisis 4/24/2018

    After passing a gargantuan appropriations bill that balloons the deficit by hundreds of billions and funds the government through October, the conventional wisdom in Washington is that Congress is done legislating for the rest of the year, save one major issue: addressing opioids.

37. Vertical Mergers Of Rx Supply Chain Spark Antitrust Concerns 3/22/2018

    The recent announcement of two vertical mergers ­— the $52 billion acquisition of Express Scripts, the largest pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) in the country, by Cigna, and the $69 billion purchase of Aetna by CVS Health — raise significant antitrust concerns over how these megacompanies will impact patient access and pharmaceutical pricing.

38. Republicans Forsake Fiscal Restraint And Market-Based Healthcare 2/20/2018

    In an incredible show of profligacy, Republicans forsook any notion of fiscal conservatism by substantially increasing discretionary spending by over $2 trillion over the next decade, less than two months after cutting taxes by $1.5 trillion over that same time period.

39. Government’s Absurd View Of The Healthcare System 1/24/2018

    The absurdity of the U.S. government’s perspective on the implementation of government-run health programs came into focus recently in the Republican tax overhaul bill as well as the rollout of the new Medicare physician payment system.

40. CMS Opens Path To Reform Of Part D 12/21/2017

    Pressure had been building for more than a year for something to be done about drug prices, and specifically inflated list prices to the patient at the pharmacy counter that do not reflect the substantial rebates manufacturers are providing. Where was all the money going? How could the list price and patient copays for drugs keep rising when the net prices — accounting for manufacturer rebates — stayed level?