War on drug prices: The Tipline for 9 April 2019

A Republican congressman has put forward legislation that would allow private health insurance issuers to jointly negotiate wholesale acquisition prices of prescription drugs with antitrust immunity. The bill, which aims to tackle sky-high pharmaceutical prices, appears to have no cosponsors so far. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice is continuing its fight against construction bid-rigging, moving on from flooring to insulation. This could become like the sprawling auto parts cartel prosecution, where it eventually was easier to name parts of the car that hadn’t been price-fixed.