PhRMA has a new leader, and his resume includes a stint as the man who ran the entire Republican half of the House of Representatives. Eric Cantor, the former GOP House majority leader, has been tapped as the next CEO of the brand drug industry’s top lobbying group, the organization announced Tuesday.
Cantor steps into a job overseeing an industry facing mounting political pressure on drug prices, with both major parties taking aim at the cost of prescription drugs. The timing could not be more awkward for a man who spent years defending conservative positions on Capitol Hill.
The PhRMA Job
PhRMA represents the brand-name drug industry, which means Cantor will be leading the lobbying effort for some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. His job will include pushing back on proposals that would change how Medicare sets drug prices.
The group has been working to protect its members from changes that could force them to lower prices to match what other countries pay for the same medications.
What the White House Is Doing
The Trump administration is trying to codify into law voluntary agreements struck with more than two dozen companies to lower U.S. pharmaceutical prices to levels in peer countries.
Democrats and Medicare
Democrats are also interested in the most-favored nation pricing approach and are considering adding international prices to the list of criteria Medicare uses to negotiate prices. That proposal would add foreign prices as a factor in the federal health program’s price negotiations.
Both approaches target the same problem: the gap between U.S. and peer-country drug prices. Cantor’s job is to keep that gap from closing.
The Political Mood
The announcement comes at a moment when both parties are moving toward a more populist position on healthcare. Neither side wants to be seen as protecting high drug prices, even as they disagree on how to fix the problem.
That shared mood is part of what makes Cantor’s appointment notable. He is stepping into a job where the industry he represents is under attack from both directions.
What Cantor Brings
As a former majority leader, Cantor has deep experience navigating Washington. His background in leadership positions suggests he understands how legislation moves through Congress and how to build coalitions.
Those skills will be tested immediately. The industry he now represents is under pressure from the White House on one side and from Democrats on the other, and Cantor will need to hold the line on both fronts.
The Irony of the Move
There is something amusing about this appointment. Cantor spent his career building the Republican Party’s legislative engine, and now he is running the lobbying shop for an industry that faces growing pressure from both parties to explain its prices.
The Bottom Line
Cantor inherits a difficult hand. The industry he represents is under attack from both sides of the aisle.
His job will be to hold the line on prices while the political mood turns ever more populist. Whether he can succeed depends on his ability to navigate a landscape where neither party wants to be seen as friendly to high drug costs.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs smaller government and less control over people’s lives, and is against an office gathering more power, especially when that office once ran the Republican half of the House of Representatives. Eric Cantor’s move from Congress to the head of PhRMA is a case in point, and it fits the pattern of power gathering in one place: a man who spent years defending conservative positions on Capitol Hill now runs the lobbying effort for an industry facing pressure from both parties.
Cantor’s job is to push back on proposals that would change how Medicare sets drug prices and to protect his members from matching foreign prices. That is a mandate from an industry that wants to keep its prices high, and it comes at a moment when both parties are moving toward a more populist position on healthcare. The irony is that the man who built the Republican legislative engine is now running the lobbying shop for an industry under attack from both sides.
Readers should watch whether Cantor can hold the line on prices while the political mood turns ever more populist. The question is whether he can navigate a landscape where neither party wants to be seen as friendly to high drug costs. The paper will be watching this one closely.
Key Facts Box
- CEO: Eric Cantor, former GOP House majority leader
- Industry group: PhRMA, brand drug industry’s top lobbying group
- Trump administration: Voluntary agreements with more than two dozen companies
- Democrats: Considering most-favored nation pricing approach for Medicare
- Issue: U.S. pharmaceutical prices vs. peer-country levels
“Cantor faces mounting political pressure on drug prices and an increasingly populist mood from both political parties.”
See the a run of 35 images at STAT.
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