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Biden Pauses Trump Executive Order Discounting Insulin Prices for Low-Income Americans

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The Biden administration has placed a freeze on implementing a Department of Health and Human Services regulatory rule put in place under President Donald Trump that requires community health centers to charge low-income patients the acquisition price for insulin and EpiPens.

“HHS signed off on the rule in December, shortly before former President Donald Trump left office. It aims to lower patients’ out-of-pocket costs by forcing community clinics to pass on their 340B drug discounts,” Modern Healthcare reported Thursday.

Health centers that did not comply with the rule would be blocked from receiving federal grant funds.

On Dec. 30, the HHS Office of the General Counsel released an advisory legal opinion concluding the rule could be implemented.

“The 340B Program requires drug manufacturers (in exchange for coverage of drugs under Medicaid) to offer substantial discounts to ‘covered entities,’ which include safety net hospitals, community health centers, and other institutions that serve vulnerable populations,” the department said in a news release.

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Then-HHS Secretary Alex Azar said at the time, “President Trump has been steadfastly devoted to lowering drug prices for American patients, and that includes ensuring that drug companies are offering the discounts they’re legally required to give to providers that serve the vulnerable.”

In a July news release announcing the proposed change in response to a Trump executive order, HHS said the rule would “increase access to life-saving insulin and epinephrine for the patients who face especially high costs among the 28 million patients who visit [federally qualified health centers] every year, over six million of whom are uninsured.”

The Health and Human Services rule was slated to take effect Friday but has been delayed, pending a review by the Biden administration, until March 22, Modern Healthcare reported.

The pause in implementing the drug pricing discount to patients is part of a larger regulatory freeze issued by White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain on Wednesday, President Joe Biden’s first day in office.

A memo from Klain directed all heads of departments and executive agencies to consider postponing rules’ effective dates for 60 days.

The document did provide for exceptions for “emergency situations or other urgent circumstances relating to health, safety, environmental, financial, or national security matters.”

Trump made a priority out of lowering prescription drug prices for Americans.

Do you think the insulin price discount rule should be implemented?
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The Associated Press reported prices fell in 2018 for the first time in 45 years.

In September, Trump signed an executive order to create a “most favored nation” drug pricing system for Medicare.

The order required that Medicare pay no more for a drug than the lowest price in countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

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Randy DeSoto has written more than 2,000 articles for The Western Journal since he joined the company in 2015. He is a graduate of West Point and Regent University School of Law. He is the author of the book "We Hold These Truths" and screenwriter of the political documentary "I Want Your Money."
Randy DeSoto is the senior staff writer for The Western Journal. He wrote and was the assistant producer of the documentary film "I Want Your Money" about the perils of Big Government, comparing the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama. Randy is the author of the book "We Hold These Truths," which addresses how leaders have appealed to beliefs found in the Declaration of Independence at defining moments in our nation's history. He has been published in several political sites and newspapers.

Randy graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point with a BS in political science and Regent University School of Law with a juris doctorate.
Birthplace
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Nationality
American
Honors/Awards
Graduated dean's list from West Point
Education
United States Military Academy at West Point, Regent University School of Law
Books Written
We Hold These Truths
Professional Memberships
Virginia and Pennsylvania state bars
Location
Phoenix, Arizona
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Entertainment, Faith




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