Alex Azar, who was just sworn-in this week as Trump’s new Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, is a former executive at Eli Lilly, Inc. As a Big Pharma exec, Azar presided over prescription drug cost increases — and the company was scrutinized for allegedly fixing the price of insulin on his watch.
See more posts like this on Tumblr
#politics #donald trump #trump #health care #alex azar #p2 #older americans #elderly #retirement #retirees #retirement crisis #entitlements #entitlement reform #rx drugs #prescription drugsMore you might like
Alex Azar, a former top executive at Eli Lilly and Co. and top official at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has been tapped by President Trump to head HHS.
Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare: “This is an ironic choice for a president who has pledged to lower prescription drug prices.”
via USA Today.
Related Reading:
President Trump’s HHS Nomination A Bitter Pill for Seniors.
- As President of Eli Lilly, Azar presided over frequent price hikes on medications that seniors on fixed incomes depend upon. In fact, the company is currently being sued for fixing the price of insulin.
- Equally discouraging is Azar’s support of reckless legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
Here’s why Trump ditched his campaign pledge to call for Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices.
via Public Citizen.
Related Reading:
We have spoke about this issue in the past when Alex Azar was nominated as HHS Secretary.
President Trump’s HHS Nomination A Bitter Pill for Seniors.
- The President has tapped a former Big Pharma executive, Alex Azar. This is an ironic choice for a President who has pledged to lower prescription drug prices.
- As President of Eli Lilly, Azar presided over frequent price hikes on medications that seniors on fixed incomes depend upon.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may have violated federal law by removing a web page that provided information about how Medicare coverage is affected by ObamaCare, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said Tuesday.
In a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma, Cummings asked HHS to provide documentation about any decisions to remove information from websites it maintains.
via The Hill.
Related Reading:
How the Affordable Care Act Helps Seniors.
- Improvements made in the ACA to Medicare preventive services and prescription drug coverage have lowered the out-of-pocket costs of millions of seniors.
Here’s a riddle about drug pricing to ask our healthcare administrators, including Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar: Since the prices of generic drugs haven’t risen since 2011—in fact, in many cases have fallen—why have out-of-pocket costs for seniors on Medicare nearly doubled?
That’s the finding in a new analysis by the healthcare consulting firm Avalere Health, which studied the trends in co-pay charges for enrollees in Medicare Part D, the prescription drug benefit. The benefit is administered by private insurance companies. The insurers have great latitude to establish out-of-pocket co-pays and structure their formularies—the roster of drugs they cover—as long as they meet broad rules set down by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, an agency under HHS.
via Los Angeles Times.
Related Reading:
Trump Favors Big Pharma Profits Over Seniors Prescription Drug Savings.
- Trump’s new proposal will ring hollow with America’s seniors, who understand the only way they will see the prices they pay at the pharmacy come down is for the president and Congress to break the choke-hold that Big Pharma has on our country’s drug pricing policies – and pass legislation that gives Medicare full control over negotiation.
Options for Implementing Medicare Drug Negotiation.
- At a time when policymakers are seeking ways to lower the federal deficit and overall health care spending, proposals that reduce Medicare prescription drug costs cannot be overlooked.
Did you miss Behind the Headlines today?
We discussed:
- Lowering prescription drug prices.
- Alex Azar’s appointment to Secretary of Health and Human Services.
- Raising the wage cap.
You can watch the full segment by clicking here.
The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing next Tuesday on the confirmation of Alex Azar, President Trump’s nominee to be secretary of Health and Human Services.
The announcement came Tuesday from committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who said questions would center on Medicare, Medicaid, and Obamacare.
via Washington Examiner.
Related Reading:
President Trump’s HHS Nomination A Bitter Pill for Seniors.
- Instead, President Trump has tapped a former Big Pharma executive, Alex Azar. This is an ironic choice for a President who has pledged to lower prescription drug prices.
- As President of Eli Lilly, Azar presided over frequent price hikes on medications that seniors on fixed incomes depend upon. In fact, the company is currently being sued for fixing the price of insulin.
- Equally discouraging is Azar’s support of reckless legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
His administration has been in place for an entire year and so far hasn’t taken any serious action to bring down the cost of prescription drugs. A year after President Trump took office, the United States still pays more for prescription drugs than most other nations.
Trump’s previous Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tom Price, seemed more concerned with undermining Obamacare than lowering drug prices — until he left office under a cloud of scandal.
Alex Azar, who was just sworn-in this week as Trump’s new Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, is a former executive at Eli Lilly, Inc. As a Big Pharma exec, Azar presided over prescription drug cost increases — and the company was scrutinized for allegedly fixing the price of insulin on his watch. He seems hardly the ideal candidate to lead a crusade against overcharging. Yet, Azar promised after his swearing-in to bring down prescription drug prices, echoing the President’s so-far empty pledges.
Read more from this blog post by clicking here.
Less than two months from Election Day, President Donald Trump on Thursday night stepped up his rhetoric about Social Security and other federal benefit programs by warning Democrats want to “destroy” them.
The president had not focused on the federal retirement, disability, and survivors’ benefits program at previous political rallies. But as the midterm elections near, he debuted some new — and sharp — lines at a rally in Billings, Montana.
He accused Democrats of wanting to “turn America into Venezuela,” which plunged into an ongoing economic and political crisis stemming from unsustainable social programs launched by Hugo Chavez’s government. “I don’t think so.”
via Roll Call.
Related Reading:
Trump is wrong, Dems are fighting to save Medicare and Social Security.
These are classic examples of Trumpian projection because the exact opposite of what the president said is true. Far from “protecting” Social Security and Medicare, President Trump and Republicans in Congress have been actively working to undermine them.
In fact, GOP Congressional leaders promised to “reform” (which really means “cut”) Social Security and Medicare to help pay for trillions of dollars in Trump tax cuts benefiting the wealthy and big corporations.
In his campaign for president, Donald Trump pledged to protect Medicare and Social Security. But in recent proposed cabinet appointments, he appears to have fast-tracked the privatization of both.
The bottom line is that retirement will be a much more costly enterprise if privatization goes through.
via FORBES.
Related Reading:
Senator Sherrod Brown has always been a champion for America’s #seniors — and the earned benefits they receive through #SocialSecurity and Medicare.