Conservatives buck Trump over worries of 'socialist' drug pricing | TheHill

Conservatives are growing increasingly uneasy with the Trump administration's new drug pricing policy.President TrumpDonald John TrumpFormer White Supremacist calls on Trump to stop using fear to motivate people Walmart employee urges workers to strike until the company's stores stop selling guns Biden: Violent video games 'not healthy' but aren't 'in and of itself why we have this carnage' MORE is desperately seeking an elusive political win in his efforts to lower prescription drug costs, but he faces a hard sell to conservative groups and GOP lawmakers as he touts ideas traditionally favored by Democrats and presidential candidate Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersTown halls are not the answer, DNC must sanction an official climate debate Gravel endorses Bernie Sanders after suspending campaign De Blasio defends decision to appear on Fox's Hannity: We shouldn't stereotype 'millions of Americans who are watching' MORE (I-Vt.).In a rare break with Trump, conservatives are now pushing back against key administration policies, and accusing the president of supporting what they call Sanders-style socialism.The president has embraced importing drugs from Canada, as well as an international pricing policy that would bar Medicare from paying more than other countries for prescription drugs.The moves are designed to co-opt Democratic talking points, and position Trump as a populist champion of the free market.Trump has made lowering drug prices a top priority of his presidency, but has suffered some high-profile setbacks in recent weeks.Drug importation and the international pricing caps proposal are the only remaining policies remaining that the White House can use to make a splash heading into 2020.Trump has frequently railed against “global freeloading,” and said he doesn’t think it’s fair that the U.S. subsidizes research and development in other countries.Last year he went to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and announced the plan to cap U.S. payments for expensive drugs, over the objections of some White House advisers.Those objections later spread to include conservative groups.Facebook ads this year from FreedomWorks, a conservative advocacy group, urged people to tell HHS Secretary Alex Azar to oppose “socialist-style price controls.”Another ad warned the administration against “importing socialist European drug prices in America.”Separately, a website sponsored by the American Conservative Union rails against the administration’s pricing index, calling it an experiment “directly out of the Bernie Sanders and Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonOcasio-Cortez calls out McConnell for photo of young men groping a cutout of her Trump: 'We are watching Google very closely' GOP super PAC drops new TV ad in contested NC House race MORE government health care takeover playbook.”In the GOP-controlled Senate, a bill backed by the administration is facing Republican opposition over a provision that would impose a limit on drug price increases in Medicare’s Part D prescription drug program.The legislation would force drug companies to pay money back to the government if their prices rise faster than inflation.The Senate Finance Committee approved the measure late last month in a 19-9 vote — all Democrats voting for it and all nine “no” votes came from Republicans.