The Pharmaceutical industry is relying on obscure Senate rules as a last-ditch effort to derail Democrats’ plan to regulate prescription medication costs. Drugmakers are assisting Republican senators as they argue before Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough that drug price controls cannot be included in Democrats’ $2 trillion climate and social spending bill, in addition to their usual flurry of lobbying — which centres on blaming other parts of the health-care system for rising costs.
The fight against the drug price bill will take place this week at the so-called Byrd bath, a conference where lawmakers can argue with a parliamentarian about whether certain provisions can be passed through the budget reconciliation process. The industry’s best opportunity to prevent its first legislative defeat in decades is to make a last-ditch push. Democrats’ plan would give Medicare the authority to negotiate the price of some older prescription drugs, impose a $35 monthly cap on what patients must pay for insulin, cap annual out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare recipients at $2,000, and prohibit drugmakers from raising prices faster than inflation.
Republicans will argue that the bill’s policy changes exceed its budgetary implications. The insulin cap and price controls for Pharmaceutical purchased with private insurance are the measures most at risk of being repealed, according to lobbyists, because they expressly target private sector. MacDonough isn’t likely to strike down the entire drug pricing provision, but it’s unknown how she’ll decide at this point.
Be First to Comment