Latest / The Fiscal Policy Podcast with Fexingo: Government Budgets, Stimulus, and Public Spending
Why Government Health Programs Overpay for Drugs by 50 Percent
In this episode of The Fiscal Policy Podcast, Lucas and Luna take aim at a costly inefficiency in government spending: prescription drug pricing in public health programs like Medicaid and Medicare Part D. They zero in on a 2025 federal report revealing that government health plans pay on average 50 percent more than the Veterans Health Administration for the same brand-name drugs. They walk through how the VHA's statutory direct-negotiation authority drives prices down, while Medicaid's 'best price' rule and Medicare's non-interference clause lock in higher costs…
The skinny
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