Intraparty Division Over Drug Pricing Threatens Democrats’ Health Priorities
Three moderate House Democrats object to the plan to allow Medicare to broadly negotiate drug prices. Their opposition leaves the future path uncertain for major health policy measures Democrats aimed to include in the massive social safety-net spending package. And for more on the drug-pricing legislation, scroll down to today's Prescription Drug Watch roundup.
Stat:
House Moderates Rebel Against Pelosi Drug Pricing Plan
Three moderate House Democrats are making good on their threat to oppose Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s aggressive Medicare drug price negotiation, leaving its fate uncertain. Reps. Scott Peters (Calif.), Kurt Schrader (Ore.) and Kathleen Rice (N.Y.) have publicly stated their intentions to vote down Pelosi’s drug pricing plan as part of the House Energy & Commerce Committee’s markup on a sprawling safety-net package Democrats are advancing this week. (Cohrs, 9/14)
Politico:
Centrists Throw Wrench In House Democrats’ Drug Pricing Plans
An intraparty fight over drug price controls is threatening to derail Democrats' dreams of sweeping changes to Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act as part of their mammoth social spending package. House Energy and Commerce Chair Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and his senior aides are racing to shore up support for leadership-backed language that would allow direct government negotiations over the prices of hundreds of drugs, penalize manufacturers that raise prices faster than inflation and apply both policies to private insurance plans as well as Medicare. (Ollstein, Caygle and Ferris, 9/14)
The Washington Post:
Three Democrats Say They’ll Oppose Party’s Drug-Price Plan, Creating Roadblock For Larger Package
A trio of key Democrats announced Tuesday they will oppose the party’s plan to lower drug prices, creating a significant roadblock for Democrats’ desired $3.5 trillion tax and spending package. Reps. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.) and Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) said they will oppose drug-pricing changes that would allow Medicare to negotiate lower prices and that have become the framework to pay for many of Democrats’ sought-after measures this year. The three lawmakers are members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, one of several panels debating the budget reconciliation package, and say they have concerns about a plan to empower Medicare to negotiate directly with drug companies. (Diamond, Roubein and Goldstein, 9/14)
The New York Times:
Democratic Divisions Flare Over Tax Increases And Drug Pricing
The day before Democrats’ self-imposed deadline for completing committee work on their vast social policy bill, tensions were rising in their ranks on Tuesday over how to structure and finance it. Disagreements over whether to tax the vast fortunes of tycoons like Jeff Bezos and how to control prescription drug prices have emerged as flash points as Democrats try to coalesce around what could be the most significant expansion of the social safety net in a half century. (Weisman and Cochrane, 9/14)
Stat:
Key Senator Opposes Democrats’ Target For Drug Pricing Savings
An influential Senate Democrat is pushing back against his party’s efforts to cut $600 billion out of the drug industry as part of a massive yet-to-be-unveiled spending package. Since July, it’s been widely reported that Democrats are seeking around $600 billion in savings from the pharmaceutical industry to help pay for a number of policy priorities. But Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) told STAT in an interview Tuesday that he believed the goal of cutting $600 billion out of the drug industry was too ambitious. (Florko and Cohrs, 9/14)
