Trump Would Have Problems on Medicare Rx Prices

There’s a basic trade-off that any proposal would have to grapple with: To have any real effect on drug prices, Medicare would have to be able to say “no” to drugs that might be expensive, but are still badly needed by people with chronic conditions.That means it would have to establish a list of covered drugs, known as a formulary, and be willing to leave drugs off it.

But that approach risks a massive political backlash and charges of shortchanging seniors. That’s what happened in 2014 when the Obama administration tried a milder proposal that would have gotten rid of some “protected classes” of drugs that all Medicare drug plans must cover.