House Drug Bill Would Save $345 Billion

H.R. 3-- "To establish a fair price negotiation program, protect the Medicare program from excessive price increases, and establish an out-of-pocket maximum for Medicare part D enrollees, and for other purposes."

MOTHER JONES.COM-- This is something that, in theory, the Trump administration supports, so it shouldn’t be hard to get it passed. Unfortunately, that would ruin Trump’s claim that Democrats are doing nothing, so it will probably die in the Senate.

LINK TO CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE

IN A PDF LETTER THE CBO STATES... Title I of H.R. 3 would require manufacturers of certain prescription drugs to negotiate prices with the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). Prices for those drugs could not exceed 120 percent of the average price in certain other countries. Other provisions also would affect prices for drugs, including limits on prices of drugs for which international prices are not available. If manufacturers did not enter into negotiations or agree to prices by specified dates or if they did not meet other conditions, they would be subject to an excise tax of up to 95 percent of the sales of those drugs.

CBO estimates that applying the provisions in title I to prescription drugs covered under Part D of Medicare would reduce federal direct spending for Medicare by $345 billion over the 2023-2029 period.You can track H.R. 3's progress here at CONGRESS.GOV. It also contains all the juicy details.

H.R. 3 was sponsored by Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ). It has 49 Cosponsors, but not a single House Republican!

READ THE TEXT OF THE BILL