New Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar is “going to get those prescription drug prices way down,” President Trump said today at Azar’s official swearing-in ceremony.
Reality check: Aside from the president himself, the Trump administration has shown little interest in using the federal government’s purchasing power to leverage lower prices for prescription drugs, and Azar has also said he opposes such an approach.
The United Nations estimates that over 13 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are at risk of death due to a "mega-crisis" of political instability, armed conflict, hunger, and disease, per a report by John Zarocostas in The Lancet.
Why it matters: The U.N. Office of Humanitarian Affairs was only able to fund 47.8% of its $816.6 million appeal for the DRC last year — and this year the office estimates the country and its people will need $1.69 billion. It's unlikely the appeal will come close to being fully funded, given the focus on developing crises in Syria and Yemen.
There would be more losers than winners if Congress funds the Affordable Care Act's cost-sharing subsidies, a weird twist resulting from how insurers responded to President Trump cutting off the payments last year.
Why this matters: The Senate is expected to vote on a bill, crafted last year by Sens. Lamar Alexander and Patty Murray, that would fund the subsidies — as almost every expert suggested back then. But now, passing the same bill would make coverage less affordable for more people than it would help.
