Conservative Groups Blast Administration’s Drug Pricing Proposal as ‘Price Controls’

The Trump administration’s plan to reduce drug prices smacks of “price controls,” more than 50 medical and conservative advocacy groups said in a letter to the White House.

The administration’s plan, released in late October, would establish an “International Pricing Index” under which Medicare would pay for certain drugs based on the prices paid by other countries. HHS Secretary Alex Azar projected the plan would reduce Medicare payments for the drugs by 30 percent over the next five years.

Signatories to the letter, including the American Conservative Union, the American Legislative Exchange Council, the Council for Affordable Health Coverage and the Goldwater Institute, blasted the plan as introducing foreign price controls to the U.S. market.