Trump calls for ‘new bidding procedures’ with drug companies

by Peter Sullivan - 01/11/17 11:39 AM ET

President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday hit pharmaceutical companies in the early minutes of his press conference and seemed to call for Medicare to negotiate drug prices, a longtime Democratic priority.

“The other thing we have to do is create new bidding procedures for the drug industry, because they’re getting away with murder,” Trump said.

“PhRMA, PhRMA has a lot of lobbyists and a lot of power and there’s very little bidding on drugs,” he added, calling out the drug companies.

{mosads}Trump called for Medicare to negotiate drug prices during the presidential campaign as well, but it was unclear if he would continue the push for that after the election. The issue could create a divide with congressional Republicans, who, with some exceptions, oppose the idea.

“We’re the largest buyer of drugs in the world, and yet we don’t bid properly and we’re going to start bidding and save billions of dollars over a period of time,” Trump said.

Drug prices have been long a hot-button issue, with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton slamming drug companies on the campaign trail. The Republican sweep had been expected to lessen some of the pressure on drug companies, though. Trump’s comments could change that.

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