May 21,2020

ICYMI: Grassley says Trump pushing for drug pricing action after Senate lunch

Peter Sullivan
Published on May 20, 2020
 
President Trump told Republican senators during a meeting on Tuesday that he still wants congressional action to lower drug prices, even though the coronavirus pandemic has sucked up oxygen, according to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). 
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“I said the virus comes along and takes all your attention, so my question is do you still want us to put a bill on your desk to reduce drug prices?” Grassley recounted during an interview with Iowa radio station KSCJ on Wednesday. 
 
“And he talked about it for a long period of time, as he takes a long time to answer questions, but he said yes, he expected us to put a bill on [his desk],” Grassley said. 
 
Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is the co-sponsor of a bipartisan measure with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to lower drug prices. 
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Grassley, however, argued that the economic fallout from the coronavirus makes his bill for drug affordability even more important. 
 
“The coronavirus pandemic lends even more urgency to our efforts to ensure lifesaving cures are affordable,” he wrote in an op-ed with Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) earlier this month.