What We're Reading: Drug Price Meeting; "Trumpcare" Label Pushback; and Defining Healthy Foods

Democrats Meet With Trump to Discuss Drug Pricing

Representatives Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, and Peter Welch, D-Vermont, met with President Donald Trump yesterday to form an unlikely alliance against the high cost of prescription drugs. The legislators presented a bill that would allow Medicare to negotiate prices, an idea that Trump had supported during his campaign. According to Kaiser Health News, Cummings commended the president as “aware of the problem” and “enthusiastic” in remarks after the meeting.

Replacement Bill Isn’t Called “Trumpcare,” White House Insists

The inevitable nickname of “Trumpcare” for the Republican bill to replace Obamacare has been greeted with resistance by the Trump administration, Politico reports. Democrats have seized on the term, but officials want the bill to be branded by its official name, the American Health Care Act, as they don’t want it associated with the negative connotations of Obamacare among conservatives. HHS secretary Tom Price offered up a slightly catchier alternative: “I prefer to call it PatientCare,” he said at a White House press briefing.

FDA Public Meeting Attempts to Define “Healthy” Foods

A battle that started over the word “healthy” on KIND bar labels has spurred the FDA to hold a public meeting in hopes of determining what actually makes a food healthy, reported STAT. Today’s meeting will unite nutritionists, food company representatives, and others to discuss topics like consumers’ perceptions of healthy foods and whether health claims should be based on nutrient content.