Since its founding, the United States has championed personal liberty and the power of free markets. We chose private enterprise over central planning and competition over command, trusting that free people, acting in a free market, would drive progress. Our most dramatic leaps forward, from the rise of national railroads to the information age, came when the government set basic guardrails and then let innovators compete. That tradition is being tested again on two issues politicians love to claim only they can fix: drug prices and data access. In both cases, the market is quietly doing what Washington cannot.
The healthcare fight to lower prescription costs for American patients has raged for decades. For years, leaders on both sides of the aisle have floated “most favored nation” pricing, which would peg what Medicare pays for drugs to lower prices set by foreign governments. Though it makes for a strong political sound bite, it is a dangerous policy. Economic scholars, healthcare experts, and conservative voices alike have warned that blanket MFN schemes would gut investment in new medicines, endanger American jobs, and give countries such as China even more of a strategic edge as capital and research migrate overseas.
