About this episode

The episode discusses the unintended consequences of healthcare policies with expert Deborah Williams.

When Healthcare Policy Incentives Backfire: 340B, Hospital Pricing, MFN, and Drug Affordability with Deborah Williams Healthcare policies are often evaluated by what they are intended to accomplish. But what happens when the incentives created by those policies produce very different results? In this episode of RealPharma, Ian Wendt and Dr. Na-Ri Oh speak with longtime health policy expert Deborah Williams about the unintended consequences embedded in the U.S. healthcare system—from hospital reimbursement and industry consolidation to the 340B Drug Pricing Program, biosimilars, most-favored-nation pricing, and pharmaceutical innovation. Deborah argues that healthcare policy must be judged not by its stated purpose, but by the behaviors, financial incentives, and measurable outcomes it creates. The discussion examines why transparency alone may not lower healthcare costs, how hospital systems use their political and economic influence, and why policies designed to improve affordability can sometimes contribute to higher prices. The conversation also explores the practical and constitutional uncertainties surrounding most-favored-nation drug pricing, the Trump administration’s…

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