The bill, which includes aggressive plans for reducing drug prices, is expected to pass the House but fail in the Senate.
In the House of Representatives, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will soon bring her drug pricing bill to the floor for a vote. Her plan calls for Medicare price negotiations, an international pricing index, fines for drugmakers who refuse to negotiate, and other aggressive steps to reduce drug prices. The Republicans, meanwhile, are pursuing a bipartisan effort in the Senate that proposes an out-of-pocket cap for Medicare, plus other changes for federal payers and increased transparency for pharma middlemen and is a much less aggressive approach.
The White House’s Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) estimates that Pelosi’s plan will lead to the launch of 100 fewer drugs over the next 10 years and reduce the average life expectancy in the U.S. by four months due to reduced access to drugs. Over 125 biopharma companies also wrote to House lawmakers about the negative consequences that the bill would have
Voting is expected to proceed along party lines, with the Pelosi bill passing in the House but failing in the Senate.
