Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Where Policy Meets the Pharmacy Counter
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Where Policy Meets the Pharmacy Counter
Where Policy Meets the Pharmacy Counter
Featuring Congressman Jake Auchincloss
Episode Summary
In this episode of RealPharma, hosts Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Congressman Jake Auchincloss (MA-04) to dissect the tangled web of policy, profit, and politics driving America’s drug pricing system. From pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to the politics of tariffs, this discussion explores the push for transparency, fair competition, and sustainable reform in healthcare.
Auchincloss, a Marine veteran and member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, brings a rare combination of policy depth and industry fluency. Together, they unpack how entrenched middlemen have distorted the system—and what bipartisan solutions could finally restore balance between innovation and access.
What You’ll Learn:
Why PBM reform has momentum but keeps stalling in Congress
How the Pharmacists Fight Back Act could level the playing field for independent pharmacies
The purpose of the Patients Before Monopolies Act and how it targets vertical integration
Auchincloss’s vision for a “biotech social contract” that links innovation, IP protection, and insurance design
The real story behind drug import tariffs and the risks of chaotic trade policy
How U.S. innovation compares to China’s rapidly advancing biotech ecosystem
The importance of aligning drug pricing reform with patient access and national competitiveness
Memorable Moments:
“PBMs deserve to be bulldozed for their behavior over the last two decades.”
“There’s no moral hazard in getting sick—no one fakes chemotherapy to get free drugs.”
“The most expensive thing in the world is what hasn’t been invented yet.”
Why It Matters:
As drug costs rise and innovation races ahead, the U.S. faces a defining choice: will healthcare policy reward breakthroughs or bureaucracy? Congressman Auchincloss argues that reform is not just about prices—it’s about preserving America’s leadership in biomedical innovation while ensuring patients can actually access the medicines that save lives.
Guest:
Congressman Jake Auchincloss
U.S. Representative for Massachusetts’ 4th District
Member, House Committee on Energy and Commerce
Hosts:
Na-Ri Oh & Ian Wendt
View all episodes
By RealPharma
5
1212 ratings
Where Policy Meets the Pharmacy Counter
Featuring Congressman Jake Auchincloss
Episode Summary
In this episode of RealPharma, hosts Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Congressman Jake Auchincloss (MA-04) to dissect the tangled web of policy, profit, and politics driving America’s drug pricing system. From pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to the politics of tariffs, this discussion explores the push for transparency, fair competition, and sustainable reform in healthcare.
Auchincloss, a Marine veteran and member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, brings a rare combination of policy depth and industry fluency. Together, they unpack how entrenched middlemen have distorted the system—and what bipartisan solutions could finally restore balance between innovation and access.
What You’ll Learn:
Why PBM reform has momentum but keeps stalling in Congress
How the Pharmacists Fight Back Act could level the playing field for independent pharmacies
The purpose of the Patients Before Monopolies Act and how it targets vertical integration
Auchincloss’s vision for a “biotech social contract” that links innovation, IP protection, and insurance design
The real story behind drug import tariffs and the risks of chaotic trade policy
How U.S. innovation compares to China’s rapidly advancing biotech ecosystem
The importance of aligning drug pricing reform with patient access and national competitiveness
Memorable Moments:
“PBMs deserve to be bulldozed for their behavior over the last two decades.”
“There’s no moral hazard in getting sick—no one fakes chemotherapy to get free drugs.”
“The most expensive thing in the world is what hasn’t been invented yet.”
Why It Matters:
As drug costs rise and innovation races ahead, the U.S. faces a defining choice: will healthcare policy reward breakthroughs or bureaucracy? Congressman Auchincloss argues that reform is not just about prices—it’s about preserving America’s leadership in biomedical innovation while ensuring patients can actually access the medicines that save lives.
Guest:
Congressman Jake Auchincloss
U.S. Representative for Massachusetts’ 4th District
Member, House Committee on Energy and Commerce
Hosts:
Na-Ri Oh & Ian Wendt
More shows like RealPharma: Conversations with Pharma Pathfinders
View all
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
38,836 Listeners
The NPR Politics Podcast
25,864 Listeners
WSJ What’s News
4,357 Listeners
HBR IdeaCast
172 Listeners
The Daily
112,586 Listeners
Bold Names
1,450 Listeners
It's Been a Minute
9,102 Listeners
The Readout Loud
323 Listeners
Behind the Money
227 Listeners
The Journal.
6,068 Listeners
All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg
10,043 Listeners
BioCentury This Week
34 Listeners
F1 Nation
690 Listeners
SmartLess
58,473 Listeners
Hard Fork
5,531 Listeners