Drug Prices

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 ...
Commentary

Time To Crack Down On The Knock-Off Weight-Loss Drug Trade

Wegovy, Zepbound, and other GLP-1 agonists have given Americans an extraordinary new tool for losing weight and improving their health. But they’ve also given rise to a dangerous new public health threat—counterfeit medicines. In a rush to capitalize on the popularity of these drugs, a number of third-party telehealth firms ...
Commentary

Should the Government Control Drug Prices? No…

In a May 12 executive order, President Trump announced a “most favored nation” policy that intends to lower prescription drug prices. Among other things, the order directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to “communicate most-favored-nation price targets to pharmaceutical manufacturers to bring prices . . . in line ...
Commentary

Trump Embraces Disastrous Most Favored Nation Drug Pricing

President Donald Trump gave American drug companies an ultimatum last month. Either they agree to adopt foreign-style price controls, or the administration “will deploy every tool in [its] arsenal” to do it for them. More specifically, the president asked drug firms to base U.S. drug prices for a given drug ...
Commentary

What’s The GLP-1 Black Market, How Big a Threat Is It?

A black market in weight-loss drugs is flourishing in plain sight. Rogue pharmacies and telehealth firms are flooding the United States with unauthorized knock-offs of semaglutide, tirzepatide, and other glucagon-like peptide-1 drugs. Better known by brand names like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound, the knock-off versions of these drugs are ...
Commentary

Generics Must Compete On Price, Not Safety

America’s generic drug market is one of our greatest health policy successes. Today, 91% of all prescriptions in the U.S. are filled with generics. That dominance saves patients and taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars every year—and it also drives innovation. Drugmakers know their monopoly on a new treatment will ...
Commentary

The Inflationary Effect of Drug Price Controls

In a bill chock full of bad policies, the drug pricing provision of the Inflation Reduction Act stands out as particularly troubling. This provision establishes a negotiation process to set a Maximum Fair Price (MFP) on selected drugs for Medicare patients. Because the legislation calls the MFP a negotiation doesn’t ...
Commentary

The Trump Administration Is Reviving Its Worst Drug Pricing Policies

It’s been a big year for revivals. There’s a new Jurassic Park movie, a reunion tour featuring 1990s rock band Oasis, and a Harry Potter television series in the works. President Trump is also looking to revive some of the policies he tried to enact during his first term. He ...
Commentary

Drugmakers Are Embracing Direct-To-Consumer Sales. That’s Fantastic News For Patients.

Several Big Pharma companies have started selling their drugs directly to consumers (DTC). This shift — driven in part by President Trump’s push for lower drug prices and fewer middlemen — has garnered relatively little media coverage. But the implications for American patients, employers, and the healthcare system as a ...
Commentary

Drug Tariffs Cure Nothing and Are a Tax Increase

President Donald Trump has made no secret of his desire for sweeping tariffs on pharmaceuticals. Last month, the president threatened tariffs as high as 200% on imported drugs. The trade deal with the European Union (EU) finalized July 27 includes a 15% levy on medicines imported from the continent. Drug ...
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 ...
Commentary

Time To Crack Down On The Knock-Off Weight-Loss Drug Trade

Wegovy, Zepbound, and other GLP-1 agonists have given Americans an extraordinary new tool for losing weight and improving their health. But they’ve also given rise to a dangerous new public health threat—counterfeit medicines. In a rush to capitalize on the popularity of these drugs, a number of third-party telehealth firms ...
Commentary

Should the Government Control Drug Prices? No…

In a May 12 executive order, President Trump announced a “most favored nation” policy that intends to lower prescription drug prices. Among other things, the order directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to “communicate most-favored-nation price targets to pharmaceutical manufacturers to bring prices . . . in line ...
Commentary

Trump Embraces Disastrous Most Favored Nation Drug Pricing

President Donald Trump gave American drug companies an ultimatum last month. Either they agree to adopt foreign-style price controls, or the administration “will deploy every tool in [its] arsenal” to do it for them. More specifically, the president asked drug firms to base U.S. drug prices for a given drug ...
Commentary

What’s The GLP-1 Black Market, How Big a Threat Is It?

A black market in weight-loss drugs is flourishing in plain sight. Rogue pharmacies and telehealth firms are flooding the United States with unauthorized knock-offs of semaglutide, tirzepatide, and other glucagon-like peptide-1 drugs. Better known by brand names like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound, the knock-off versions of these drugs are ...
Commentary

Generics Must Compete On Price, Not Safety

America’s generic drug market is one of our greatest health policy successes. Today, 91% of all prescriptions in the U.S. are filled with generics. That dominance saves patients and taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars every year—and it also drives innovation. Drugmakers know their monopoly on a new treatment will ...
Commentary

The Inflationary Effect of Drug Price Controls

In a bill chock full of bad policies, the drug pricing provision of the Inflation Reduction Act stands out as particularly troubling. This provision establishes a negotiation process to set a Maximum Fair Price (MFP) on selected drugs for Medicare patients. Because the legislation calls the MFP a negotiation doesn’t ...
Commentary

The Trump Administration Is Reviving Its Worst Drug Pricing Policies

It’s been a big year for revivals. There’s a new Jurassic Park movie, a reunion tour featuring 1990s rock band Oasis, and a Harry Potter television series in the works. President Trump is also looking to revive some of the policies he tried to enact during his first term. He ...
Commentary

Drugmakers Are Embracing Direct-To-Consumer Sales. That’s Fantastic News For Patients.

Several Big Pharma companies have started selling their drugs directly to consumers (DTC). This shift — driven in part by President Trump’s push for lower drug prices and fewer middlemen — has garnered relatively little media coverage. But the implications for American patients, employers, and the healthcare system as a ...
Commentary

Drug Tariffs Cure Nothing and Are a Tax Increase

President Donald Trump has made no secret of his desire for sweeping tariffs on pharmaceuticals. Last month, the president threatened tariffs as high as 200% on imported drugs. The trade deal with the European Union (EU) finalized July 27 includes a 15% levy on medicines imported from the continent. Drug ...
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