Sally C. Pipes and Wayne Winegarden Quoted Opposing Trump Drug Price Executive Orders
Title: Trump’s proposed executive orders on drug pricing may hinder R&D and drug development
Jeff Lagasse, Associate Editor, Health Care Finance
Recently, President Trump proposed four different executive orders aimed at lowering drug prices in a move that some see as calculated to secure votes from seniors in the run-up to November’s presidential election. There’s no doubt that drug prices have become a challenge for many Americans, but as finer details of the executive orders have yet to emerge, it’s unclear whether they would have the intended effect if enacted.
The broad strokes are there. One proposed executive order would eliminate rebates from drug companies that go to pharmacy benefit managers, the middlemen who negotiate with drug companies on behalf of insurers. One would allow the importation of drugs from Canada. One would reduce the price of insulin. The last would introduce an International Pricing Index for prescription drugs.
According to Wayne Winegarden, director of the Pacific Research Institute’s Center for Medical Economics and Innovation, two of these proposed executive orders in particular – drug importation from Canada and the International Pricing Index – essentially amount to price control. . .
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