BY PETER
SULLIVAN - 06/12/18
Sen. Elizabeth
Warren (D-Mass.) pressed Health and Human Services (HHS)
Secretary Alex Azar on Tuesday about why no drug companies have announced price
decreases despite President Trump saying they would soon.
Warren focused on
Trump’s statement at the end of May that "in
two weeks" drug companies would "announce voluntary massive
drops in prices." The two-week mark from that statement is this
Wednesday.
"He said there
would be massive decreases in prices within two weeks," Warren said during
a Senate Health Committee hearing. "It's been two weeks and there have
been no decreases and an indication of increase."
Azar countered at the
hearing that there are drug companies working on price decreases.
“There are actually
several drug companies that are looking at substantial and material decreases
in drug prices,” he said.
The health chief said
the holdup is that negotiators known as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are
actually discouraging price decreases because that could reduce the amount of
rebates that the PBMs get.
“Oddly, the fear is
that they would be discriminated against for decreasing their price,” Azar
said.
Warren, a liberal
champion who is a possible 2020 presidential contender, did not buy that
argument, saying, “In other words, the president's promise that we would see
massive decreases in two weeks hasn't happened and you don't have anyone lined
up who's actually going to decrease drug prices."
The Hill reported Monday that
HHS officials have been meeting with drug companies to encourage them to
voluntarily reduce prices.
Azar has indicated he
will act on his own if pharmaceutical companies do not agree to voluntary price
decreases, but Democrats have attacked his plan as too soft on drug companies.
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