Drug Prices
Commentary
Direct-To-Consumer Ozempic Sales Are A Win For Patients And Drug Makers
Google Wegovy. Or Zepbound. The search results offer a preview of a direct-to-consumer future for prescription drugs. The brand-name drugs’ homepages generally get top billing. But not far down are ads for telehealth companies promising access to the drugs or others with the same active pharmaceutical ingredient, or API, without ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 12, 2025
Commentary
A Most Flawed Notion: Medicaid ‘Fix’ Will Worsen 340B Crisis
Congressional Republicans are under pressure to find savings to make the math in their budget reconciliation package add up. Medicaid, which accounts for just under 10% of federal spending, has become an obvious target. But instead of addressing the flawed incentives driving the program’s unsustainability, the Trump administration is pushing ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 7, 2025
Commentary
Insurers, bureaucrats shouldn’t deprive patients of lifesaving treatments
Imagine being told there’s a drug that might save your life — but your insurance won’t cover it for 18 months. That’s the reality for patients under a new policy from Independence Blue Cross, a Philadelphia-based insurer. The insurer announced earlier this year that it will delay coverage of therapies ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 7, 2025
Drug Importation
Pipes: “Imposing tariffs on pharmaceutical products and ingredients would be a grave mistake”
Click here to download a copy of Pipes’ comments Thank you for inviting public input on the Department’s Section 232 examination of pharmaceutical imports and their relevance to U.S. national security interests. As president and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute and a longtime healthcare policy analyst, I’ve spent over ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 7, 2025
Commentary
Why Are Republicans Acquiescing To Tax Hikes?
The White House is advancing a policy that would raise drug prices, stifle medical innovation, and hand China a strategic edge in the race for global technological dominance. No, Joe Biden hasn’t somehow returned to office. This time, the ill-advised idea — tariffs on imported medicines — comes from Donald ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 6, 2025
Commentary
Congress Should Not Impose Foreign Price Controls On Innovative Drugs
Simple and neat solutions are alluring but often wrong. A case in point is President Trump’s proposal to adopt a most favored nation (MFN) policy. The MFN sets Medicaid’s price for a drug at the lowest price charged in other developed countries each of which has price controls on drugs. ...
Wayne H Winegarden
May 5, 2025
Commentary
Medicaid Is Not A Test Lab For Foreign Price Controls
In a desperate bid to claim fiscal discipline without touching entitlements, President Donald J. Trump is pushing congressional Republicans to adopt a “most favored nation” (MFN) drug pricing model for Medicaid. This policy would tie Medicaid reimbursements to the lowest prices paid in other developed countries—countries where government officials dictate ...
Sally C. Pipes
May 5, 2025
Commentary
Delaying Coverage of Weight-loss Meds Won’t Cure Obesity
In an interview this month, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., appeared open to the idea of Medicare covering drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy for beneficiaries with obesity. “Ideally, over the long term, we’d like to see . . . those drugs available for people after ...
Sally C. Pipes
April 24, 2025
Commentary
Drug company profits don’t threaten lives; price controls do
More than 4 in 5 Americans blame the pharmaceutical industry’s profits for the high prices of prescription drugs. It’s little wonder, then, that roughly the same share supports placing price controls on prescription drugs through Medicare. The logic is straight out of Robin Hood. Our leaders should take from the ...
Sally C. Pipes
April 23, 2025
Commentary
Pharmaceutical Tariffs Will Have Horrific Side Effects
President Trump implemented a raft of tariffs this week. All imports are subject to a 10% import duty. Those from China are subject to a 145% tariff. Pharmaceuticals appear to be exempt from the tariffs — for now. Drug manufacturers expect to get hit with tariffs at some point; they’re ...
Sally C. Pipes
April 11, 2025
Direct-To-Consumer Ozempic Sales Are A Win For Patients And Drug Makers
Google Wegovy. Or Zepbound. The search results offer a preview of a direct-to-consumer future for prescription drugs. The brand-name drugs’ homepages generally get top billing. But not far down are ads for telehealth companies promising access to the drugs or others with the same active pharmaceutical ingredient, or API, without ...
A Most Flawed Notion: Medicaid ‘Fix’ Will Worsen 340B Crisis
Congressional Republicans are under pressure to find savings to make the math in their budget reconciliation package add up. Medicaid, which accounts for just under 10% of federal spending, has become an obvious target. But instead of addressing the flawed incentives driving the program’s unsustainability, the Trump administration is pushing ...
Insurers, bureaucrats shouldn’t deprive patients of lifesaving treatments
Imagine being told there’s a drug that might save your life — but your insurance won’t cover it for 18 months. That’s the reality for patients under a new policy from Independence Blue Cross, a Philadelphia-based insurer. The insurer announced earlier this year that it will delay coverage of therapies ...
Pipes: “Imposing tariffs on pharmaceutical products and ingredients would be a grave mistake”
Click here to download a copy of Pipes’ comments Thank you for inviting public input on the Department’s Section 232 examination of pharmaceutical imports and their relevance to U.S. national security interests. As president and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute and a longtime healthcare policy analyst, I’ve spent over ...
Why Are Republicans Acquiescing To Tax Hikes?
The White House is advancing a policy that would raise drug prices, stifle medical innovation, and hand China a strategic edge in the race for global technological dominance. No, Joe Biden hasn’t somehow returned to office. This time, the ill-advised idea — tariffs on imported medicines — comes from Donald ...
Congress Should Not Impose Foreign Price Controls On Innovative Drugs
Simple and neat solutions are alluring but often wrong. A case in point is President Trump’s proposal to adopt a most favored nation (MFN) policy. The MFN sets Medicaid’s price for a drug at the lowest price charged in other developed countries each of which has price controls on drugs. ...
Medicaid Is Not A Test Lab For Foreign Price Controls
In a desperate bid to claim fiscal discipline without touching entitlements, President Donald J. Trump is pushing congressional Republicans to adopt a “most favored nation” (MFN) drug pricing model for Medicaid. This policy would tie Medicaid reimbursements to the lowest prices paid in other developed countries—countries where government officials dictate ...
Delaying Coverage of Weight-loss Meds Won’t Cure Obesity
In an interview this month, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., appeared open to the idea of Medicare covering drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy for beneficiaries with obesity. “Ideally, over the long term, we’d like to see . . . those drugs available for people after ...
Drug company profits don’t threaten lives; price controls do
More than 4 in 5 Americans blame the pharmaceutical industry’s profits for the high prices of prescription drugs. It’s little wonder, then, that roughly the same share supports placing price controls on prescription drugs through Medicare. The logic is straight out of Robin Hood. Our leaders should take from the ...
Pharmaceutical Tariffs Will Have Horrific Side Effects
President Trump implemented a raft of tariffs this week. All imports are subject to a 10% import duty. Those from China are subject to a 145% tariff. Pharmaceuticals appear to be exempt from the tariffs — for now. Drug manufacturers expect to get hit with tariffs at some point; they’re ...