Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Tariffs on pharmaceuticals. First, President Trump has voiced his goal to impose tariffs on pharmaceutical products made overseas. The New York Times reports: Mr. Trump said in remarks to reporters on Monday that pharmaceutical tariffs would come in the “not too distant future.”“We don’t make our own drugs anymore,” Mr. Trump said. “The drug companies…
Last week, FDA authorized the State of Florida to import pharmaceuticals from Canada. The price of branded pharmaceuticals in the US is nearly three times the cost of identical pharmaceuticals in Canada, so this approach could save the US money. While there are some administrative issues to work out on the US side, the biggest…
President Trump signed 4 executive orders on drug pricing on July 24, 2020. How are they likely to affect drugs prices? Passing along rebates to patients The one of the executive orders mandates that rebates go to reduce patient cost sharing: These middlemen — health plan sponsors and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) — negotiate significant…
This month, RADAR on Specialty Pharmacy, wrote an article on drug importation titled “HHS Importation Efforts Move Ahead, but Questions Remain”. As part of the article, I was interviewed. Below is an excerpt. High drug prices have been in the news for a few years, catching “the ire of public opinion and politicians,” observes Jason…
Today, the Trump administration laid out a plan to allow states, drug wholesalers and pharmacies to import some cheaper drugs from Canada. While at first glance many may believe that this approach would lead to large decreases in drug prices, in practice the impact on prices is likely to be modest. In a Washington Times…
A number of politicians have called for the ability to import drugs from Canada and other developed countries. For instance, Bernie Sanders said: “I believe we should be able to import into the United States from Canada, and from other countries, FDA-approved medicine, which would substantially lower prices.” However, Canada does not want the U.S.…