Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (Credit: Win Mcnamee/Getty Images)
By: Yasmeen Abutaleb & Mike DeBonis
Source: Washington Post
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled her long-awaited drug pricing measure on Thursday, an ambitious bill that would allow the federal government to negotiate the prices of up to 250 brand-name drugs in Medicare.
Designed to help Democrats address voter concerns about drug prices and replicate their 2018 success winning House control by championing health care concerns, the measure faces wide opposition from congressional Republicans. However, President Trump’s strong desire to address prescription drug costs before the 2020 election is a potential wild card that could affect the bill’s fate.
In a tweet Thursday evening, Trump indicated he supported Pelosi’s bill. “The American people need Congress to help,” he wrote. “I like Sen. Grassley’s drug pricing bill very much, and it’s great to see Speaker Pelosi’s bill today. Let’s get it done in a bipartisan way!”
Even if there is no deal with the White House, the Democrats’ bill is a baseline for future efforts to address prescription drug costs under a Democratic president and Senate.
The measure would require the Health and Human Services secretary to negotiate the prices of up to 250 drugs in Medicare that do not have competitors and would impose severe financial penalties on drug companies that failed to come to an agreement. The negotiated prices would be available to all purchasers, not just Medicare beneficiaries.
It would also cap seniors’ out-of-pocket prescription drug costs at $2,000 a year. And it would require drug companies that have raised their prices above the inflation rate since 2016 to either lower their prices or rebate the portion back to the U.S. Treasury.
There were already signs of division among Democrats, as the party’s progressive flank expressed concern the legislation did not negotiate prices on enough drugs.
Read the full article here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/pelosi-unveils-measure-to-lower-prescription-drug-costs/2019/09/19/e4df6f32-daf6-11e9-bfb1-849887369476_story.html
