Axios

Janssen, a drug company owned by Johnson & Johnson, published its first-ever "transparency report" Monday. It covers a wide range of topics, from pricing to clinical data, reflecting the growing pressure pharmaceutical companies face from patients and the public who are worried and angry about rising drug costs. Janssen said it raised list prices by 8.5% in 2016 and the net price increase, after $11 billion in rebates and discounts, was 3.5%.

The takeaway: There's a lot of P.R. material, naturally. But the report also reinforces the drug industry's main talking points right now: That others in the drug supply chain are getting sizable portions of drug price increases, and that net prices are below medical inflation. Janssen even mapped out a flow chart of how drugs get from them to consumers.

Yes, but: Drug companies still set the prices, and the fact that net price increases are below medical inflation masks the fact they are still outpacing broader economic inflation, which is why people are feeling the pinch in their wallets.

Since the November election, Anthem, the national insurer with the most at stake in the Obamacare marketplaces, and affiliated Blue Cross insurers have been meeting with top Republicans leading the charge to repeal Obamacare, per Reuters. That gives them a lot of influence with the Trump administration as it cracks down on Obamacare regulations that have hurt the company's profits — and as it meets with health insurance executives this morning.

Here's what Anthem's CEO, Joseph Swedish, has been pushing for:

• Tighter enrollment rules after losing money on people who waited to signup for Obamacare until they were sick. (This was the subject of the administration's first Obamacare rule.)
• Changes in the way payments for the sickest patients are calculated.
• An extension to the discontinuation of plans after 2017 that were issued before Obamacare and don't meet the law's coverage requirements.

After meeting with governors, President Trump has come to an important conclusion: Reforming the health care system is immensely difficult.

We have come up with a solution that's really, really – I think – very good. Now I have to tell you, it's an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew health care could be so complicated.

Trump said he's spent time discussing the issue with Govs. Scott Walker, Rick Scott and Chris Christie.

“Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated." https://t.co/XweLPEQ9UQ— Justin Green (@JGreenDC) February 27, 2017