Why Republicans will stumble on drug pricing policy

Get 'em while they're cheap!Prescription drug pricing has quickly risen toward the top of the list of voter concerns. Democrats running for President have been talking about it for a long while, but now Republicans feel they need to have something to say. (See GOP hopefuls, long quiet on drug prices, begin to make some noise.)I predict the GOP candidates will mainly fail to come up with compelling approaches. Why?

The article includes certain wise things Republicans are saying on healthcare policy. But I want to point out that these won't do anything to control drug prices:

  • Expand public/private partnerships for drug development. (They would do well to look to the Forum for Collaborative HIV Research as an incredibly effective and efficient model that started in HIV but has since expanded to liver disease)
  • Provide more funding for the NIH. We really need this if we are to stay ahead in the global competition for highly-educated talent. Yes, this policy would be even more effective if coupled with immigration reforms to enable graduates of US universities to stay after obtaining their degrees

Image courtesy of digitalart at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

By healthcare business consultant David E. Williams, president of Health Business Group

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