Grassley: Azar Should Use IPI Model As Leverage Against Pharma

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the new Senate Finance Committee chairman, said that HHS Secretary Alex Azar is likely using the administration’s International Price Index model for Medicare Part B to extract concessions from pharmaceutical companies after the committee’s first in a series of planned hearings on prescription drug pricing. A Grassley spokesman declined to elaborate on what the chairman would suggest Azar ask for in return for possibly walking back the advance notice of proposed rulemaking. "My suspicion is that...