Democrats plan crackdown on rising drug costs

Democratic lawmakers hope to curb rising prescription drug costs by allowing the government to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies. Authorization for price negotiations could potentially be added later this year in a reconciliation bill. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) has introduced a bill with Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) that would create a public option health insurance plan and allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. Democrats might also return to some version of H.R. 3, a bill that passed the House last year but did not receive consideration from any Senate committee. The main component of that bill would allow the government to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for lower prices on drugs covered by Medicare, and drug companies would have to then extend those prices to private insurers. An analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the move could save the federal government more than $456 billion over a decade. However, the CBO also predicts the branded pharmaceutical industry would lose revenue if the bill passed, leading to 40 fewer new drugs coming to the market in the United States over the next 20 years. Democrats contend the change is needed because of the rising costs of brand-name drugs and insurance plans that increasingly require patients to pay more money toward their own care, compelling some to ration insulin and other drugs. The lawmakers also note that H.R. 3 includes $10 billion for biomedical research.