His new drug price rule will hurt the innovation that has produced Covid vaccines.
WSJ editorial. Excerpt:
"The Department of Health and Human Services on Friday finalized a “most-favored nation” rule requiring drug makers to give Medicare the lowest price they charge comparable developed countries. This means the feds will refuse to pay more for medicines than government-run health systems in Europe. Didn’t Mr. Trump campaign against socialism?
While Medicare pays more for medicines than most countries, Americans also get earlier access to more life-saving treatments. According to the Galen Institute, 96% of new cancer therapies are available in the U.S. compared to 73% in Germany, 66% in France and 54% in Japan. Mr. Trump’s penny-pinching will result in fewer breakthrough treatments.
Most drugs fail in clinical trials, including some 97% of oncology treatments. The rare successes finance research and development into new medicines. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to understand that drug makers will spend less on new medicines if government cuts their return on investment.
HHS is rushing out the rule without seeking public comment under its authority to test new payment models to reduce federal spending and improve patient care. Such tests typically are voluntary and involve a small patient or hospital population. The most-favored nation rule will be imposed by fiat nationwide."
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