The landmark drug pricing plan Speaker Nancy Pelosi is set to unveil responds to concerns of American families, takes on big pharma and drastically lowers the cost of prescription drugs. Headlines confirm the historic nature of this plan that adds “new urgency” to solving the ongoing crisis of skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs that’s impacting millions of American families.
New York Times: Pelosi Energizes Battle To Lower Drug Prices. “A draft proposal by Speaker Nancy Pelosi would empower the federal government to negotiate lower prices for hundreds of prescription drugs, not only for Medicare but for the private market as well, injecting new urgency into Washington’s efforts to control the soaring price of pharmaceuticals.” [New York Times, 9/10/19]
CNBC: Pharma Stocks Fall As Draft Of House Democratic Drug Price Plan Surfaces On Capitol Hill. “Pharmaceutical stocks fell Tuesday after an early draft of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s long-anticipated plan to reduce U.S. drug prices surfaced on Capitol Hill. The main thrust of the plan, which is still in flux, would allow Medicare to negotiate lower prices on the 250 most expensive drugs and apply those discounts to private health plans across the U.S…shares of drugmakers fell on the news. Eli Lilly was down by about 1% in afternoon trading. Merck and GlaxoSmithKline both fell by more than 2%.” [CNBC, 9/10/19]
Forbes: House Speaker Pelosi Seizes An Opening On Prescription Drug Prices. “Under Pelosi’s plan there would be direct negotiations between Medicare – as a collective unit representing all beneficiaries – and drug manufacturers. Here, Medicare would negotiate prices of 250 costly medicines. The list of drugs has not been disclosed, but the plan indicates it will include both outpatient and physician-administered drugs. In its negotiations with drug manufacturers, Medicare would use as benchmarks the average prices of the 250 drugs in a set of developed countries. The resulting negotiated prices would then apply to the commercial sector in the the U.S. Also, substantial fines would be levied on drug companies that refuse to participate in the negotiations.” [Forbes, 9/11/19]
Modern Healthcare: Democrats’ Draft Drug Pricing Plan Could Shift Legislative Debate. “An ambitious draft plan from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to allow government price negotiation on a swath of expensive drugs has shifted Washington’s contentious policy debate leftward at a critical point for Democratic negotiations with Senate Republicans and the White House…progressive Democrats and reform-minded advocates were optimistic for where the legislation is headed, particularly since it would allow the HHS secretary to negotiate prices directly with manufacturers instead of opting for arbitration.” [Modern Healthcare, 9/10/11]