Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Monday that value-based healthcare "needs to accelerate dramatically" in the U.S., calling for a range of changes to the healthcare system that he said would provide more tools to give consumers more control over their care.

The pharmacy giant issued $40 billion of investment-grade debt in a nine-part offering, people with knowledge of the matter said. That’s surpassed only by Verizon Communication Inc.’s $49 billion offering in 2013 and Anheuser-Busch InBev SA’s $46 billion sale two years ago.

Speaking at the Federation of American Hospitals convention in D.C.,Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar laid out a series of actions the administration will take that are aimed at lowering health care costs, and warned that it wouldn’t be deterred by powerful special interests.

As policymakers and the administration focus on high drug prices, the brand drugmaker lobby has responded by unleashing millions of dollars in an attempt to shift blame.

The surgery went fine. Her doctors left for the day. Four hours later, Paulina Tam started gasping for air.

Congress is running out of time if members want to come up with legislation to stabilize the individual insurance market.