House Dem Leaders Intro New Drug Price Legislation

WASHINGTON — A trio of House Democrats introduced legislation Wednesday that would extend the savings garnered by the federal government from negotiating prescription drug prices to all who are covered by private health plans.

The bill, called the Lowering Drug Costs for American Families Act, was introduced by Reps. Richard Neal, D-Mass., ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and Robert Scott, D-Va., ranking member of the Workforce Committee.

In essence and intent, it is a follow-up to the Inflation Reduction Act, which last year granted the Health and Human Services secretary the authority to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for U.S. seniors.

In doing so, the act lifted restrictions that had been in place for nearly 20 years preventing Medicare from negotiating drug prices. 

The law also further reduced drug prices for seniors by penalizing pharmaceutical companies that raised prices faster than the rate of inflation. 

“The Inflation Reduction Act finally granted Medicare the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for seniors, however, the fight is not over,” Pallone said in a written statement. 

“The Lowering Drug Costs for American Families Act will build on this progress by providing those same lower negotiated prices to all Americans who are covered by private health plans. It also protects consumers against unfair price hikes and increases the number of drugs Medicare can negotiate on each year, meaning lower prices on more drugs sooner,” he said.

Specifically, the bill would:

• Extend the historic drug price negotiation program to all Americans with private coverage. This includes over 164 million workers and their families who get health coverage through their jobs and more than 16 million individuals with Marketplace coverage.
• Stop drug companies from raising prices faster than inflation by ensuring that the inflation rebates enacted under the Inflation Reduction Act also apply to individuals covered by private health plans.
• Strengthen the drug price negotiation program to deliver more savings to the American people by increasing the annual number of prescription drugs selected for negotiation from 20 to 50.

“The skyrocketing cost of drugs is continuing to undermine the health and financial security of American consumers and taxpayers — who are routinely forced to pay far more for the same drugs as people in other countries,” said Scott. “Our economy bears the burden of high prescription drug costs. Employer-provided health plans spend billions of dollars every year to cover the cost of drugs.

“The American people have also made it clear that they want Congress to take action. This bill delivers on our promise to build upon the historic progress made by the Inflation Reduction Act and will allow us to further lower drug prices,” Scott said.

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