Drug Pricing
340B
340B Drug Pricing Program Overdue for Reform, GOP Can Help
Members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee held a hearing in October to discuss a federal healthcare policy long overdue for reform — the 340B Drug Pricing Program. Created to expand access to affordable medicines for low-income people, 340B has since fallen victim to rampant abuse by ...
Sally C. Pipes
November 10, 2025
Commentary
Medicare Can’t Afford Not To Cover Ozempic
The Trump administration has yet to decide whether Medicare will cover a revolutionary new class of weight-loss treatments, which include drugs like Zepbound and Wegovy. But a decision could be imminent, according to Dr. Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Speaking at an event at ...
Sally C. Pipes
October 27, 2025
Commentary
Trump Delivers Mixed Results on Health Reform
Since taking office in January, President Trump has wasted little time advancing health policies he hopes will lower costs, improve quality, and promote innovation. Those are goals worth supporting, to be sure. But the results of his efforts to date have been mixed. Consider Trump’s approach to prescription drug prices. ...
Sally C. Pipes
October 14, 2025
Commentary
Patients Can’t Wait for Federal Action on Knock-Off Medicines
For millions of Americans, the new class of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs are as close to a miracle as modern medicine gets. Sold under brand names like Wegovy and Zepbound, these drugs have proven astoundingly successful at helping patients shed pounds. Unfortunately, a number of unscrupulous companies have sought to capitalize ...
Sally C. Pipes
October 9, 2025
Commentary
Direct-To-Consumer Sales Can Fulfill Trump’s Drug Pricing Promises
The Trump administration wants to enable more Americans to purchase prescription medications directly from manufacturers at transparent, discounted prices—thus collectively saving patients tens of billions of dollars by cutting out middlemen in the drug supply chain. Voters overwhelmingly like the president’s idea. In a recent poll, 90% of Republican voters ...
Sally C. Pipes
October 9, 2025
Blog
Learn How Drug Price Controls Hurt Patients
Big Pharma Is Not Gouging Americans nor Driving Up Healthcare Costs
Whether it is Sanders vilifying pharmaceutical companies or Trump’s emphasis on imposing price controls, they both allege that drug spending is a primary driver of the nation’s rising healthcare costs. Even a cursory look at the data demonstrates their focus is misplaced. Let’s start with the national health expenditure data ...
Wayne Winegarden
October 8, 2025
Commentary
When Drug Firms Stand Up to Price Controls, U.S. Patients Win
Drug maker Bristol Myers Squibb just announced plans to sell its new schizophrenia drug Cobenfy at the same price in both the United Kingdom and the United States. And if the British government refuses, the manufacturer may walk away from the market. The drug maker’s posture portends good news for ...
Sally C. Pipes
October 3, 2025
Drug Prices
NEW BRIEF: New California Medi-Cal Restrictions Will Hurt Patients; Competition Key to Affordable, High-Quality Health Care
SACRAMENTO – As California prepares to restrict access to proven private health insurers for dual eligible Medicare and Medi-Cal patients, the Center for Medical Economics and Innovation at the Pacific Research Institute – the nonpartisan, California-based, free market think tank – today released a new brief showing that expanding competition—not ...
Wayne Winegarden
October 1, 2025
Commentary
Kennedy’s Vaccine Policies Put Americans at Risk in More Ways Than One
The effects of Kennedy’s vaccines policies are going to hurt Americans – and not just because more people are falling ill. Health experts, former CDC directors, and medical associations are gravely concerned that HHS Secretary RFK Jr.’s actions are risking Americans’ health and wellbeing. Nine former directors of the CDC ...
Wayne H Winegarden
September 22, 2025
Commentary
America Can’t Tariff Its Way to a Manufacturing Boom
President Trump very recently signed an executive order exempting a range of products from his proposed tariffs, including some pharmaceuticals. One day prior, he issued an order exempting generic pharmaceuticals from Japan from tariffs. It’s encouraging news, to be sure — particularly for American patients. But policies which shield vital ...
Sally C. Pipes
September 16, 2025
340B Drug Pricing Program Overdue for Reform, GOP Can Help
Members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee held a hearing in October to discuss a federal healthcare policy long overdue for reform — the 340B Drug Pricing Program. Created to expand access to affordable medicines for low-income people, 340B has since fallen victim to rampant abuse by ...
Medicare Can’t Afford Not To Cover Ozempic
The Trump administration has yet to decide whether Medicare will cover a revolutionary new class of weight-loss treatments, which include drugs like Zepbound and Wegovy. But a decision could be imminent, according to Dr. Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Speaking at an event at ...
Trump Delivers Mixed Results on Health Reform
Since taking office in January, President Trump has wasted little time advancing health policies he hopes will lower costs, improve quality, and promote innovation. Those are goals worth supporting, to be sure. But the results of his efforts to date have been mixed. Consider Trump’s approach to prescription drug prices. ...
Patients Can’t Wait for Federal Action on Knock-Off Medicines
For millions of Americans, the new class of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs are as close to a miracle as modern medicine gets. Sold under brand names like Wegovy and Zepbound, these drugs have proven astoundingly successful at helping patients shed pounds. Unfortunately, a number of unscrupulous companies have sought to capitalize ...
Direct-To-Consumer Sales Can Fulfill Trump’s Drug Pricing Promises
The Trump administration wants to enable more Americans to purchase prescription medications directly from manufacturers at transparent, discounted prices—thus collectively saving patients tens of billions of dollars by cutting out middlemen in the drug supply chain. Voters overwhelmingly like the president’s idea. In a recent poll, 90% of Republican voters ...
Learn How Drug Price Controls Hurt Patients
Big Pharma Is Not Gouging Americans nor Driving Up Healthcare Costs
Whether it is Sanders vilifying pharmaceutical companies or Trump’s emphasis on imposing price controls, they both allege that drug spending is a primary driver of the nation’s rising healthcare costs. Even a cursory look at the data demonstrates their focus is misplaced. Let’s start with the national health expenditure data ...
When Drug Firms Stand Up to Price Controls, U.S. Patients Win
Drug maker Bristol Myers Squibb just announced plans to sell its new schizophrenia drug Cobenfy at the same price in both the United Kingdom and the United States. And if the British government refuses, the manufacturer may walk away from the market. The drug maker’s posture portends good news for ...
NEW BRIEF: New California Medi-Cal Restrictions Will Hurt Patients; Competition Key to Affordable, High-Quality Health Care
SACRAMENTO – As California prepares to restrict access to proven private health insurers for dual eligible Medicare and Medi-Cal patients, the Center for Medical Economics and Innovation at the Pacific Research Institute – the nonpartisan, California-based, free market think tank – today released a new brief showing that expanding competition—not ...
Kennedy’s Vaccine Policies Put Americans at Risk in More Ways Than One
The effects of Kennedy’s vaccines policies are going to hurt Americans – and not just because more people are falling ill. Health experts, former CDC directors, and medical associations are gravely concerned that HHS Secretary RFK Jr.’s actions are risking Americans’ health and wellbeing. Nine former directors of the CDC ...
America Can’t Tariff Its Way to a Manufacturing Boom
President Trump very recently signed an executive order exempting a range of products from his proposed tariffs, including some pharmaceuticals. One day prior, he issued an order exempting generic pharmaceuticals from Japan from tariffs. It’s encouraging news, to be sure — particularly for American patients. But policies which shield vital ...