Next President Should Attack Drug Prices, Obama Says in JAMA

  • Medical journal publishes article authored by president
  • Obama says ‘public option’ insurance plan should be created

President Barack Obama waves as he speaks to service members at the Naval Station Rota in southwestern Spain on July 10, 2016.

Photographer: JORGE GUERRERO/AFP/Getty Images
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President Barack Obama has written a game plan on health care for the next president, including a crackdown on prescription drug prices that may cut pharmaceutical manufacturers’ profits if adopted.

In a first for a sitting president, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a scholarly article on Monday by "Barack Obama, J.D." that examines the passage of his landmark health law, the Affordable Care Act, and proposes future improvements to the U.S. health care system. Obama wrote that a government-run insurance plan, the so-called “public option,” should be made available to Americans buying coverage in parts of the country where competition is limited, and that subsidies to reduce insurance premiums in Obamacare should be more generous.