Drug Pricing
Commentary
Medicare Pays Billions For Obesity’s Consequences. Its GLP-1 Bridge Offers A Better Way
Medicare spends billions of dollars each year treating heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, cancer and other illnesses caused or worsened by obesity. Yet for decades, federal law has barred the program from covering medicines prescribed to treat obesity itself. In other words, Medicare has been willing to pay for the ...
Sally C. Pipes
July 27, 2026
Commentary
Approach online weight-loss drug offers with skepticism
If you’ve spent any time on social media lately, you’ve probably seen the ads. Lose weight fast. Get access to GLP-1s. Skip the doctor’s office. Delivered right to your door. For millions of Americans looking to lose weight, the promise is understandably appealing. These remarkable drugs, which include Ozempic, Wegovy, ...
Wayne H Winegarden
July 22, 2026
Commentary
Don’t Blame Breakthrough Drugs for Costs, Fix Hospital Market
America’s healthcare tab has hit a new record. According to federal data published late last month, national health expenditures climbed to nearly $5.7 trillion in 2025, an increase of 7.3% over the previous year. The report noted that retail prescription drug spending rose 11%, driven in part by increased use ...
Sally C. Pipes
July 17, 2026
Biosimilars
PBM’s Drug Cut Exceeds the Total Cost of Medicines In Most Other Countries
Another fundamental problem is these comparisons rely on U.S. medicines’ gross (or list) price. But list prices do not account for the complex U.S. drug supply chain, where manufacturers receive only a portion of the gross price and intermediaries, such as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), receive a disproportionate share. As ...
Wayne Winegarden
June 22, 2026
Commentary
Congress should fulfill this drug program’s promise to vulnerable Californians
A federal program intended to help low-income patients has instead become a major revenue source for large California hospital systems. Hospitals are using gaps in oversight within the 340B Drug Pricing Program to lock in substantial margins on prescription drugs — and driving healthcare costs higher for Californians in the ...
Wayne H Winegarden
June 18, 2026
Commentary
This Drug Patent Bill Would Hurt Innovation Without Lowering Prices
This week, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will consider several bills that aim to “make health care more affordable and accessible to American families.” One in particular deserves a closer look. The Medication Affordability and Patent Integrity Act, introduced by Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and co-sponsored ...
Sally C. Pipes
June 16, 2026
Commentary
Trump Should Stand Firm Against Europe’s Drug Price Free-Riders
For decades, wealthy foreign governments have left it to Americans to pay for pharmaceutical innovation — and then insisted on enjoying the fruits of that innovation at a discount. President Trump has begun challenging that status quo through trade negotiations designed to pressure foreign countries into paying more for innovative ...
Sally C. Pipes
June 12, 2026
Drug Innovation
Unauthorized GLP-1 Knockoffs Risk Patient Safety and Future Innovation, New PRI Brief Warns
As federal regulators intensify enforcement against companies selling unauthorized knockoffs of blockbuster weight-loss drugs, a new Pacific Research Institute brief warns that the booming GLP-1 knockoff market is creating patient safety risks while undermining future breakthrough medicines. “GLP-1s are among the most promising medical breakthroughs in decades, helping patients struggling ...
Wayne Winegarden
June 11, 2026
Commentary
Read the latest on drug innovation from Sally Pipes
Big Medical Breakthroughs Start With Small Gains
That may not sound like much. For someone facing a terminal diagnosis, what difference does a few extra months really make, especially if the drugs that enable them cost tens of thousands of dollars, as so many cancer drugs do? That question misses the point. In medicine, the most important ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 26, 2026
340B
It’s Time For Congress To Get 340B Out Of Its Blind Spot
That should alarm anyone concerned about rising healthcare costs, misuse of taxpayer dollars, financial burdens on employers, or the integrity of our nation’s safety net. Congress must stop ignoring this problem and inject some badly needed transparency into 340B. Read the full article at Forbes
Sally C. Pipes
May 21, 2026
Medicare Pays Billions For Obesity’s Consequences. Its GLP-1 Bridge Offers A Better Way
Medicare spends billions of dollars each year treating heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, cancer and other illnesses caused or worsened by obesity. Yet for decades, federal law has barred the program from covering medicines prescribed to treat obesity itself. In other words, Medicare has been willing to pay for the ...
Approach online weight-loss drug offers with skepticism
If you’ve spent any time on social media lately, you’ve probably seen the ads. Lose weight fast. Get access to GLP-1s. Skip the doctor’s office. Delivered right to your door. For millions of Americans looking to lose weight, the promise is understandably appealing. These remarkable drugs, which include Ozempic, Wegovy, ...
Don’t Blame Breakthrough Drugs for Costs, Fix Hospital Market
America’s healthcare tab has hit a new record. According to federal data published late last month, national health expenditures climbed to nearly $5.7 trillion in 2025, an increase of 7.3% over the previous year. The report noted that retail prescription drug spending rose 11%, driven in part by increased use ...
PBM’s Drug Cut Exceeds the Total Cost of Medicines In Most Other Countries
Another fundamental problem is these comparisons rely on U.S. medicines’ gross (or list) price. But list prices do not account for the complex U.S. drug supply chain, where manufacturers receive only a portion of the gross price and intermediaries, such as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), receive a disproportionate share. As ...
Congress should fulfill this drug program’s promise to vulnerable Californians
A federal program intended to help low-income patients has instead become a major revenue source for large California hospital systems. Hospitals are using gaps in oversight within the 340B Drug Pricing Program to lock in substantial margins on prescription drugs — and driving healthcare costs higher for Californians in the ...
This Drug Patent Bill Would Hurt Innovation Without Lowering Prices
This week, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will consider several bills that aim to “make health care more affordable and accessible to American families.” One in particular deserves a closer look. The Medication Affordability and Patent Integrity Act, introduced by Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and co-sponsored ...
Trump Should Stand Firm Against Europe’s Drug Price Free-Riders
For decades, wealthy foreign governments have left it to Americans to pay for pharmaceutical innovation — and then insisted on enjoying the fruits of that innovation at a discount. President Trump has begun challenging that status quo through trade negotiations designed to pressure foreign countries into paying more for innovative ...
Unauthorized GLP-1 Knockoffs Risk Patient Safety and Future Innovation, New PRI Brief Warns
As federal regulators intensify enforcement against companies selling unauthorized knockoffs of blockbuster weight-loss drugs, a new Pacific Research Institute brief warns that the booming GLP-1 knockoff market is creating patient safety risks while undermining future breakthrough medicines. “GLP-1s are among the most promising medical breakthroughs in decades, helping patients struggling ...
Read the latest on drug innovation from Sally Pipes
Big Medical Breakthroughs Start With Small Gains
That may not sound like much. For someone facing a terminal diagnosis, what difference does a few extra months really make, especially if the drugs that enable them cost tens of thousands of dollars, as so many cancer drugs do? That question misses the point. In medicine, the most important ...
It’s Time For Congress To Get 340B Out Of Its Blind Spot
That should alarm anyone concerned about rising healthcare costs, misuse of taxpayer dollars, financial burdens on employers, or the integrity of our nation’s safety net. Congress must stop ignoring this problem and inject some badly needed transparency into 340B. Read the full article at Forbes