Drug prices plan to go further than federal budget

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the administration is working on a plan to tackle high drug prices that would go “much further” than the proposals in President Trump’s budget.

Azar referred to the upcoming plan as a “comprehensive strategy” and briefly laid out the four areas the plan will address at a speech at the annual World Health Care Congress.

The list includes tackling high list prices, seniors and government programs paying too much for drugs, rising out-of-pocket costs, and foreign governments “free-riding off of American investment in innovation.”

“Action is desperately needed:  There’s little difference for a sick patient between a miracle cure that hasn’t been discovered and one that is too expensive to use,” Azar said.