Democrats seek narrow way to rein in expense of medicines
President Joe Biden's demand authorizing Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices features energized Democrats on a good politically popular idea they've been pushing for nearly twenty years only to face frustration. But they even now lack a clear way to enact legislation. That's because a tiny number of Democrats continue to be uneasy over government price curbs on pharmaceutical companies.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Bulk Leader Chuck Schumer will require every Democratic vote in a narrowly divided Congress. Otherwise Democrats may have to accept a compromise that stops short of their goal. Or they could have the issue into the 2022 midterm elections. "There is a path," said Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., one of Pelosi's lieutenants. "
But gleam challenge, and the challenge is we have razor-thin margins." "This is simply not a done package," continued Welch. "We have a president and a speaker, but 'pharma' is very powerful." Pharma is certainly a good nickname for the industry and because of its main lobbying group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA.
The industry thwarted President Donald Trump's multi-pronged efforts to constrain its pricing power. Despite the fact that Trump came into office accusing drug makers of "receiving away with murder" and vowing he'd eliminate it, the firms emerged from his term with simply a few nicks and cuts.
The industry lobbying group PhRMA is known as the most skilled operators in Washington. Its mission: to protect a clause in the 2003 law that produced Medicare's pharmacy benefit barring the government from interfering in cost negotiations among drugmakers and insurers. That was enacted before $1,000 pills became old hat.
