December 06,2019

White House: Bipartisan Prescription Drug Bill Within Reach; Trump Ready to Sign into Law

Op-ed: The Senate has a bipartisan compromise that could deliver lower drug prices for Americans. The president is ready to sign it into law…
By White House Officials Joe Grogan & Tom Philipson
December 6, 2019
 
It is within our grasp to provide a real win for Americans worried about the high price of prescription drugs—if Congress can get it across the finish line before the end of the year.
 
Democrats and Republicans in the Senate have been able to work together on an issue that matters to Americans families: lowering what seniors pay for prescription drugs. Republican Chairman of the Finance Committee Chuck Grassley has worked with Democratic Ranking Member Ron Wyden to craft a transformative bill that would improve the Medicare Part D program, hold drug companies more accountable and save federal taxpayers billions of dollars.
 
Under the proposal, Medicare Part D beneficiaries would also have a $3,100 annual cap on their total drug costs for the first time. This substantial financial protection would result in savings for over one million beneficiaries with high drug costs.
 
The bill also would stop arbitrary spikes in drug prices by putting in place an inflation penalty on drug manufacturers who increase their prices faster than the rate of inflation for certain Medicare drugs.
 
Finally, the bill would require true transparency from pharmacy benefit managers—the hidden middlemen of drug pricing.
 
Importantly, this transformative bipartisan proposal could be passed by Congress and signed by President Trump…
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The Grassley-Wyden bill offers Congress an opportunity to enact commonsense solutions that would lower drug prices and preserve medical innovation. If Speaker Pelosi can focus on American patients, a lasting achievement is close at hand.