can Trump do better?

When Trump wades in on this issue he may well have to pen a companion to his self-described "best book ever written (other than the Bible)", entitled "The Art of the Squeal". There is no more aggressively lobbied issue on the hill than Pharma and the no negotiation language in the Medicare act. This much is widely known. Less known is how the politics of the price issue stack up. First you must learn that the word "price" is a cardinal sin to utter. Rule 1 for Pharma lobbyists is always refer to "patient access to the best available medicine" and never cost or price.

That bit of altered reality is easy compared to the partisan politics. For the D's it seems an easy issue, lower prices for the poor and working classes who need these meds. But that isn't where the real heat comes from for Democrats when it comes drug costs. It comes from organized labor, and as Pres-elect likes to say, it comes at them Big League. Labor has seen substantial conversion of $$ out of wages and into member health plan expenses due to high Rx drug costs. So it stands to reason that they support price controls, hell they would opt for single payer if they thought it stood a chance politically. Look at California, the unions just spent a fortune trying to pass Measure 61 that would have set price controls. Pharma spent more, and they won sending it to defeat.

It's just as weird for the R's. You think they would oppose it on pure free market grounds. Not quite. The
R's actually love this issue because it allows them to wrap themselves in the flag of the poor and disadvantaged. Some thing that they don't often get to do. They stand proud and oppose any restrictions or even formularies because it would create, "two classes of health care, a have and a have not" I guess it also just conveniently coincides with Pharma's political agenda and desires. Hey, it's and easy twofer, and they don't come along that often.

So when Trump huffs and puffs about drug prices he is going to find friend and foe alike squealing for him to work on something easier, like immigration.