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Generic drugs, normally a bargain alternative to name-brand pharmaceuticals, are providing some sticker shock of their own. Prices of generic drugs rose more steeply than inflation for 22 percent of the top-selling generics on the market, according to a recent report by the Department of Health and Human Services. The review examined the top 200 generic drugs, as ranked by Medicaid reimbursement each year between 2005 and 2014. A total of 869 drugs were in the top 200 list at least once during the 10 years. (Russell, 1/5)

It sounds simple enough: Let Medicare negotiate drug prices and help bring down prices for consumers. With growing public frustration over the price of prescription drugs, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have made that idea a centerpiece of their campaigns, and congressional Democrats have been kicking the notion around in broad terms for years. (Nather, 1/6)