Wonkbook: Democrats say Trump wants to support their plan for drug prices

By Carolyn Y. Johnson Two Democratic congressmen say Presid... | Sponsored by ExxonMobil   The latest economic and domestic policy from Wonkblog   Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), left, and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) meet with reporters outside the West Wing of the White House after their meeting with President Trump. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) By Carolyn Y. Johnson Two Democratic congressmen say President Trump told them privately Wednesday that he would support their bill to allow the government to negotiate on behalf of Medicare when buying prescription drugs. After a nearly hour-long meeting with Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, Reps. Elijah E. Cummings (Md.) and Peter Welch (Vt.) said they had procured the president's support for their measure. " 'I'm going to join with you' — those are his exact words — to make this happen," Cummings said in a post-meeting conference call. "He felt that it was important that we address this issue head on. As a matter of fact, I would again describe his position as being enthusiastic." Read the rest on Wonkblog. Chart of the day The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, has cost less than initially projected. Max Ehrenfreund and Jeff Guo have more. Top policy tweets Alaska will see big subsidy drop going from ACA to AHCA. How will sen @lisamurkowski sell that to her constituents? https://t.co/Hz21t59qAb https://t.co/mddXn8XhMl ADVERTISEMENT   — Arindrajit Dube (@arindube) March 9, 2017 How market consolidation by "winner take most" companies like Amazon, WalMart and Facebook is holding down wages: https://t.co/lUbMFbAzvo — Alec MacGillis (@AlecMacGillis) March 9, 2017 A Border Tax that moves us toward a VAT& Ryancare that moves us toward single-payer, is this GOP led Congress trying to turn us into Europe? https://t.co/h3KuCo4wEK — Veronique de Rugy (@veroderugy) March 9, 2017 The Fed should set interest rates based on Main Street realities, not Wall Street hopes https://t.co/y6IpMSpSa5 https://t.co/qiiXQB5ybr pic.twitter.com/sPXo31JSZE — Pedro da Costa (@pdacosta) March 7, 2017 Charlie Peters' "scorn for the liberal meritocratic class"? Sign me up. Look forward to reading this ... https://t.co/B3l9TPGJHn — Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey) March 8, 2017 Most Recent Posts from Wonkblog Rich Americans seem to have found a way to avoid paying a key Obamacare tax In any case, it's a mystery where all that money went. By Max Ehrenfreund  •  Read more »   Trade with China might have ruined your love life As manufacturing jobs dwindled, so did marriage prospects. By Danielle Paquette  •  Read more »   Two Democratic congressmen say Trump wants to support their Medicare drug-price effort Trump may finally do something to lower drug prices By Carolyn Y. Johnson  •  Read more »   Sean Spicer is trying to discredit Congress's nonpartisan source of health-care numbers By Max Ehrenfreund and Jeff Guo  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Recommended for you   Today's WorldView What's most important from where the world meets Washington, plus the day's most essential reads and interesting ideas. Sign Up »         Share Wonkbook:       Twitter      Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you signed up for a Wonkblog newsletter. For additional free newsletters or to manage your newsletters, click here. We respect your privacy. If you believe that this email has been sent to you in error or you no longer wish to receive email from The Washington Post, click here. Contact us for help. ©2017 The Washington Post, 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071