The Trump administration is vetting Robert Redfield, an HIV/AIDS expert at the University of Maryland Medical Center, to take over as the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Politico reports.
The bigger picture: The last CDC director, Brenda Fitzgerald, resigned at the beginning of the year after reports of her purchasing stock in tobacco companies surfaced. Redfield served on the advisory council on HIV/AIDS for President George W. Bush, Politico reports, and is co-founder of the Institute of Human Virology.
Lobbyists with the pharmacy benefit management industry met with federal officials last month, warning that Medicare Part D premiums will rise by 22% in 2019 if the government pursues an idea that would lower what Medicare patients pay for medications at the pharmacy counter.
Why it matters: PBMs and other companies that sell Medicare drug plans dislike the proposal, which would require them to apply rebates and fees at the point of sale as a way to make drugs cheaper, and a final ruling is expected soon.
