Top of the morning to you. The middle of the week is upon us and, since you made it this far, why not forge ahead? After all, there is always light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. You never know what you may accomplish. So please join us as we celebrate this notion with a cup or three of delicious stimulation. Our choice today is Junior’s salted caramel, a whiff of Coney Island. Meanwhile, we have assembled the latest menu of tidbits to help you along. So please dig in. Have a smashing day and please feel free to forward any secrets you come across. Our “in basket” is always open. …
President Trump announced that Pfizer agreed to offer lower prices on its drugs to the Medicaid program and directly to patients, the first in what he said would be a series of deals intended to secure cheaper prescription medicines for the U.S., STAT writes. Pfizer also agreed to launch new medicines at prices “at parity” with those in other countries, the company and administration officials said. In return, provided Pfizer continues to invest in U.S. manufacturing, Trump said the company will not have to pay certain tariffs on drugs imported into the U.S. Pfizer is the first drugmaker to publicly announce a deal with the administration to lower its drug prices, helping the president secure a win on a major priority, though many of the details remain under wraps. At a White House event, Trump said the administration is making deals with other pharmaceuticals companies, and plans to announce them soon.
Meanwhile, policy experts say it remains unclear how much impact the deal will actually have on increasing drug affordability, STAT adds, noting the impact on out-of-pocket costs for Medicaid enrollees will likely be limited, since they already pay very little or nothing for drugs. For instance, it is not clear how — or whether — the agreement will affect Medicaid budgets. By law, drugmakers are already required to give Medicaid the lowest price that they offer other payers in the U.S., and companies have to pay greater rebates if they raise drug prices faster than the inflation rate. Depending on how the most-favored nations prices are determined, it is possible that they may not be lower than the prices Medicaid already pays, according to Edwin Park, a research professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University.
