Sen. Sanders, Rep. Cummings to Introduce Bill to Lower U.S. Drug Prices

Drugmakers have long argued that price controls in the United States would stifle innovation and that importing drugs from other countries is unsafe.

They also say that rebates and discounts they must pay to insurers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to ensure patient access to their products – and that are not passed on to consumers – forces them to keep list prices high. Trump administration proposals have singled out so-called middlemen like PBMs as a big part of the problem.

HHS Services Secretary Alex Azar has been defending the administration’s efforts to lower drug prices.

“(Trump) and I will not stop our work until list prices go down,” Azar wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.