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Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump don’t see eye-to-eye on much. But they do agree that drug costs are spiraling out of control at the public’s expense. Both the Democratic and the Republican candidates for president have said that Medicare should be able to negotiate drug prices, something that currently isn’t allowed by law. Letting Medicare do that — which the Department of Veterans Affairs and other countries have been doing for years — has the potential to transform health care. (Brian C. Callaghan and Lindsey de Lott, 10/18)

California’s state government spends about $4 billion a year on prescription drugs – for low-income people in the Medi-Cal program, as well as state employees, retirees and prison inmates. Shouldn’t taxpayers be getting the best deal possible for their money? (Daniel Weintraub, 10/17)

Valeant seems to be better at boosting drug prices than its own stock price. The embattled specialty pharma firm's shares have tumbled 28 percent from a peak of more than $31 in August. That month, the company enjoyed a string of rare positive headlines, including a 2016 revenue forecast that surprised investors by holding steady instead of being cut for the umpteenth time. (Max Nisen, 10/14)

Valeant Pharmaceuticals helped catalyze the ongoing backlash to pharma’s drug pricing habits. Now, the company is trying to defend its latest price hikes as more responsible than the huge increases which got it in hot water in the first place. Valeant announced late Friday that it’s raising the prices of several products in its neurology, gut drug, and urology treatment franchises. These spikes will be limited to single digits, according to the firm. (Valeant’s price hikes on old treatments have exceeded 500% and even 1,000% in some cases.) (Sy Mukherjee, 10/17)

Among the many questionable tactics Mylan Pharmaceuticals has pursued to boost EpiPen sales has been a surreptitious lobbying campaign to have its device added to a coveted list of preventive services that is maintained by the federal government. Here’s why this matters: If Mylan succeeds in getting EpiPen on that list, consumers would not have to make copayments, leaving insurers or government agencies to pick up that cost. That sounds like a good deal for patients. But by taking their wallets out of the equation, Mylan minimizes the chance of a public backlash to its pricing. It could likely keep raising the price of EpiPen — largely unnoticed. (Ed Silverman, 10/18)

Recently, three changes in the health care terrain collided to raise new concerns over rising drug prices: the advent of new high-priced “wonder drugs” like Sovaldi; revelations that Turing Pharmaceuticals and others bought the rights to low-cost drugs in order to re-price them at higher levels, and the enrollment of millions in the new ACA Exchange high-deductible plans, which enabled consumers to see the real price of drugs, not just the copays. (Mark Merritt, 10/17)

In 2015, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced a goal of linking at least 50% of Medicare spending to value-based payment models such as accountable care organizations.1 Health care providers are now scrambling to reorganize in a way that delivers value while preserving or enhancing commercial success. Although it’s not yet clear how providers will respond to value-based payment models, an examination of pharmaceutical industry practices can provide insights into problems that may arise — and practices to avoid. (Leemore S. Dafny, Christopher J. Ody, and Matthew A. Schmitt, 10/12)