WASHINGTON — Two very different health secretaries took the stage Monday to defend their presidents’ plans — failed and not — to bring down high drug costs.
President Biden’s Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra praised Medicare’s new powers to negotiate drug prices, fighting back against the now-common refrain that it would delay drug launches and curb innovation, this time lodged by Trump HHS Secretary Alex Azar.
“Americans aren’t gonna be happy if France gets drugs before we do,” Azar, a former Eli Lilly executive, said during a Milken Future of Health Summit panel. He also argued that negotiated prices on drugs with high rebates could lead to pharmacy benefit managers placing them on different coverage tiers, which could actually drive up patients’ out-of-pocket costs.