By Joe Grogan, Nonresident Senior Scholar, USC Schaeffer Institute

For years, the drug-pricing debate in Washington has revolved around a familiar question: how much should the government intervene to lower costs? Democrats favored direct negotiation, while many Republicans warmed to international reference pricing. Both approaches assumed that Washington would ultimately set the terms. A series of recent policy moves, however, suggests the Trump administration may be testing a different strategy, one aimed less at dictating prices than at forcing them to compete.

This approach reflects a governing perspective that could be described as favoring “Big Patient.” Health care policy is typically shaped by powerful institutional voices—insurers, pharmaceutical benefit managers (PBMs), drug manufacturers, hospital systems and physician groups—each advancing priorities that invite accusations of self-interest. By contrast, the administration’s recent drug-pricing actions signal an effort to shift leverage toward consumers themselves.

The clearest example is TrumpRx, unveiled this month as part of an effort to foster a more competitive marketplace for prescription drugs—one in which consumers may gain access to lower prices without relying solely on government rate-setting or opaque intermediary negotiations...

Read the full article in Newsweek.