DEMS/DRUGS/PHARMA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump is already signaling one area where he might reach across the aisle if Democrats take control of the House in 2019. ‘If there is anything bipartisan, it’s lowering drug prices,’ Trump said Wednesday, while signing two drug price transparency bills. Taking action has broad populist appeal, resonating with the party bases and swing voters. It also rings with men in a way that few health care issues do, making it particularly attractive to the GOP, said Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster. ‘If you wanted to pick the No. 1 issue that united the Trump voters and Bernie voters,’ drug pricing would be it, Lake said. That doesn’t mean a breakthrough is near. Hardly any health policy experts believe an agreement to allow the government to negotiate Medicare drug prices is possible next year — despite Trump’s past endorsement of the idea and House Democrats’ championing such negotiations as part of their ‘A Better Deal’ agenda.”
–Sarah Owermohle, “Why Trump and House Democrats might cut a drug-pricing deal,” Politico, October 15, 2018 12:00 pm