A recent article in U.S. News & World Report about the Trump Administration’s approach to prescription drug access and pricing recently caught my eye. In the piece from late January, author Steven Ross Johnson discussed how the President and his team might tackle provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act (signed into law under President Biden) and how the administration might look to promote pharmacy benefit manager reform.
I’m heartened to hear that President Trump is tackling these issues. The Inflation Reduction Act had some deeply flawed language in it, such as the “pill penalty” that leverages price controls in a way that incentivizes innovation for the kinds of medicines that are administered in a medical facility versus the kinds of medicines you take at home (like pills, liquids, tablets, etc.). The result of this pill penalty could be huge for people hoping to be able to start taking their medicines at home instead of having to make the sometimes-arduous journey to a medical facility for treatment.
What Congress really should focus on instead is Pharmacy Benefit Manager reform. For years, these middlemen of the drug market have gotten away with gouging patients and making it harder for them to access their needed medicines. Congress needs to get its priorities straight when it comes to prescription drugs, and it sounds like they could take their lead from President Trump.
Ben Davidson
