DRUGS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump is set to deliver his first major speech on drug prices on April 26, revisiting an issue he campaigned on but that is unlikely to yield major legislative changes. The strategy is unlikely to call for actions of the sort Trump touted on the campaign trail like allowing the government to negotiate the cost of drugs for Medicare, but based on the president’s fiscal 2019 budget request could advocate for Medicare and Medicaid demonstrations to test new ways of paying for drugs on a smaller scale, like allowing some states to try negotiating drug costs in Medicaid. Trump’s remarks are expected to coincide with a formal request for information from HHS on various drug pricing ideas, according to White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley. White House and HHS officials had long discussed when and how to roll out a drug pricing plan that Trump has been eager to make public, sources familiar with the deliberations said, and in recent weeks tentatively targeted the last week of April. Those plans firmed up in recent days, one source said late Sunday [4-15-18], and on Monday [4-16-18] morning the White House confirmed to the date to Axios and then POLITICO.
-Sarah Karlin-Smith and Adam Cancryn, “Trump plans first major speech on drug prices next week,” Politico, April 16, 2018 1:31 pm