I have never understood the Republican objection to the federal government negotiating drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry.
Why is the drug industry any different than any other technology industry the government buys from?
President Trump recently signed two executive orders directly related to prescription drug prices in the U. S. One order would allow the “reimportation” of prescription drugs from Canada. This longstanding idea would allow U. S. pharmacies and drug wholesalers the ability to pay generally much lower prices for their prescription drugs by getting them from Canadian suppliers who benefit from government management of the system. Many consumers have been buying direct from Canadian pharmacies for years since current prohibitions have not been enforced against individuals. The second order would direct Medicare to pay no more for prescription drugs than a basket of industrialized countries pay for the same drugs. Both orders would take advantage of the fact that these nations directly negotiate the price their government-run health systems pay the drug companies. Republicans have long opposed, and Democrats have long supported, the U. S. federal government directly negotiating drug prices with big Pharma for programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Democrats generally point to the success in lowering costs that these nations have had in direct negotiation. Republicans have generally called this government price controls and worry that it would be one more step on a journey to single-payer government management of the system. The challenge both sides see is in controlling the prices of drugs on the one hand but continuing to encourage the incredible innovation the pharmaceutical and biotech industry has historically delivered to the American patient.
