Months after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) essentially squashed Democrats’ hopes of passing the Build Back Better Act, which included proposals to lower drug prices, a second attempt is reportedly underway that passes muster with all Senate Democrats.
First reported by Punchbowl, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is submitting a potential reconciliation package to the Senate parliamentarian that includes an agreement backed by all 50 Senate Democrats, including Manchin, to allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug costs.
The matter is now in the hands of the parliamentarian, who will begin reviewing the proposal to make sure that it falls under the Senate’s rules on reconciliation, according to Punchbowl.
According to a summary of the provisions acquired by Punchbowl, the 190-page proposal includes:
- allowing Medicare to begin negotiating on the price of prescription drugs starting next year
- capping a patient’s out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 per year
- adding an “inflation rebate” to cap price increases beyond inflation
- access to free vaccines for seniors
“Senator Manchin has long advocated for proposals that would lower prescription drug costs for seniors and his support for this proposal has never been in question,” Manchin spokesperson Sam Runyon told Business Insider in a statement. “He’s glad that all 50 Democrats agree.”
The West Virginia senator effectively derailed a trillion-dollar spending package backed by President Biden and Democrats last year — simultaneously halting a bevy of healthcare-related provisions in the bill. Before that, Democrats had never been so close to passing major drug pricing reforms.
Industry group PhRMA has blasted the Democrats’ drug pricing proposal, arguing months ago that the bill would “throw sand in the gears of medical progress.” The group offered similar criticism on Wednesday, with PhRMA’s EVP of public affairs Debra DeShong saying in a statement:
The prescription drug bill released today went from bad to worse for patients. Democrats weakened protections for patient costs included in previous versions, while doubling down on sweeping government price-setting policies that will threaten patient access and future innovations. In fact, they are proposing to repeal a policy that would have directly lowered costs at the pharmacy for millions of seniors in favor of a new price-setting scheme. The bill also ignores the role of middlemen and insurers in determining patient out-of-pocket costs. Unfortunately, PBMs and insurers will continue to benefit by shifting more of the cost burden to patients when it comes to coinsurance and premium increases. Patients deserve better.
University of Chicago researchers recently argued that Medicare negotiations would lead to a reduction of $663 billion in R&D spending through 2039, and 135 fewer new drug approvals. However, the Congressional Budget Office suggested back in November that Medicare negotiations would only result in 10 fewer drugs (out of a calculated total of 1,300 drug approvals) over 30 years.
