- Ryan and Trump Set for Medicare Showdown Politico by Rachael Bade—House Republicans are praying the president-elect comes around to their plans for overhauling entitlements. Tax reform could be in trouble if he doesn't.- Since the election, Paul Ryan has accommodated and deferred to Donald Trump on all sorts of issues they don't see eye-to-eye on. But when it comes to Ryan's career-defining cause—overhauling Medicare and other entitlements—the speaker has held his ground. The clashing philosophies between the GOP's two top pols—Trump once called Ryan's doctrine "political suicide"—is about to come to a head. Left unresolved, it threatens to sink tax reform, a top priority for both men.
- Why Trump Faces Stiff Fight to Slash Drug Prices Bloomberg by Doni Bloomfield—Trump would need to get a Congress dominated by Republicans on board to permit the U.S. to negotiate prices. So far, Republicans in Congress don't seem receptive to the idea, and Trump's own nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services has opposed Medicare price negotiation. Democrats have been more enthusiastic—President Barack Obama proposed letting Medicare negotiate prices for injectable medicines and other expensive drugs. The powerful pharmaceutical lobby opposes such measures and has said it will pour tens of millions of dollars into advertising to boost the industry's image.
