Your need-to-know Election 2020 healthcare stories.

Plenty of action in this week’s election update. First off, Bloomberg apparently got destroyed in his debate debut (at least, according to Twitter).

Apart from broad healthcare clashes on Medicare for All, the debate didn’t really focus on the topic much.

• Elizabeth Warren came in hot, claiming that Klobuchar’s healthcare plan was written on a post-it note, while Buttigieg’s was a PowerPoint.

Other debate highlights.

Bernie and Bloomberg – both 78 years old – claim to be heart healthy. But really none of the candidates want to share their health records with you in the first place.

• Should voters be concerned about the health of an elected official, especially ones that will enter their 80s during their first term?

Bernie takes Nevada.

Ahead of South Carolina’s primary on 2/29 and Super Tuesday on 3/3, Bernie earned another hard-fought victory in Nevada. Remember last week we saw many healthcare stocks – especially insurers – pop on that news? This Monday, all healthcare stocks dropped hard.

• Apart from the extreme market selloff, many believe that sentiment around healthcare companies are shifting as Bernie gains steam.
• That’s quite the contrast from a week ago – but generally, healthcare stocks underperform in an election year anyway.

Dem candidates attack Trump on Drug Pricing.

Several candidates pointed out Trump’s drug pricing policy roadblocks this week. Bloomberg, Bernie, and Klobuchar all have recently taken shots on failed policies, including the TV ad list pricing policy that was blocked in court.

• While the candidates claim that nothing concrete has passed regarding drug pricing, he actually shares some similar ideas to many of them – namely, cheaper drug importation from places like Canada, and tying drug costs in the U.S. to a basket of developed countries that pay much lower prices.

Other Trump drug accomplishments

The administration implemented a faster FDA process to get generic drugs to market quicker.

Trump also signed a bill that removed pharmacist gag clauses – pharmacists can now tell patients at the counter whether an alternative drug would be cheaper to pay out-of-pocket.

You should know: Democrats passed a drug pricing bill in the House late in 2019.

• The main conflict between Republicans and Democrats on drug pricing: Democrats are fine with the government directly negotiating with drug companies on prices for both public and private markets.
• Republicans oppose this expansion of government authority.

Read more on direct negotiation:

• A brief history of Medicare drug price negotiation.
• The Congressional Budget Office stated that providing broad negotiating authority by itself would likely have a negligible effect on federal spending.
• (OPINION): Direct government negotiations on price would not save the government money.
• (OPINION): Remedy for high drug costs: let Medicare negotiate.

The big picture

• The main issues in healthcare right now – and, by extension, the 2020 election – really boil down to three key points: costs (Medicare for All/Public Option/Medicaid reform), drug pricing, and surprise billing.

Other Policy stuff to know this week:

• How the drug lobby lost its mojo in Washington. (WSJ)
• The FDA is changing its classification of insulin to get more production of the critical diabetic drug.
• CMS is considering extending its hip and knee replacement model for another 3 years.

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