US Price Negotiation Process: Is Case-By-Case Politically Sustainable?

Republican Congressional letter asking HHS nuts-and-bolts questions about the newly enacted drug price ‘negotiation’ law points to a much more fundamental issue: can a bureaucratic agency make the program work in a manner that appears credible and free of undue political interference?

negotiation seesaw
HHS appears to have the advantage on Medicare drug pricing, but the new ‘negotiation’ process will inevitably involve outside pressure that may shift the balance. • Source: Nielsen Hobbs; the Pink Sheet | Shutterstock images

A recent letter from two key Republican members of Congress to the US Department of Health & Human Services asking for details about the planned implementation of the newly enacted Medicare price negotiation process raises a number of specific and important questions about exactly how the program is supposed to work.

It is also undeniably a blueprint for how the GOP plans to hold the government’s feet to the fire during the implementation process, assuming they can recapture the majority in...

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