HHS Secretary Alex Azar on Thursday outlined numerous drug cost initiatives President Donald Trump will include in his budget proposal set to be released Monday, reports Bloomberg.
Here are eight ways President Trump seeks to address high drug costs via the proposal, according to Mr. Azar.
1. Ensure seniors covered by Medicare benefit from discounts pharmacy benefit managers negotiate with drugmakers.
2. Establish caps for out-of-pocket prescription costs under Medicare.
3. Try to make generic drugs free for low-income seniors.
4. Start a pilot program that would allow state Medicaid programs to exclude some drugs from coverage to achieve deeper discounts.
5. Reduce the amount drug companies receive for new products in the Medicare Part B program from 6 percent above the wholesale acquisition cost to 3 percent.
6. Reallocate savings from prescription drug discount programs to hospitals that treat a large amount of low-income patients.
7. Prevent drug companies from taking advantage of an incentive that limits competition after filing a new drug application for a generic version of a branded drug.
8. Cover some drug therapies, such as cancer treatments or other infusions done at a physician's office, under Medicare Part D — not Part B — to allow for discount negotiations.