The leaders of two key Senate health committees are trying to strike a deal on a group of drug-pricing bills, including ones to spur generic drug approvals, cut fees from pharmaceutical middlemen, and cap the cost of insulin.
The Democratic and Republican heads of the Finance and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committees say they are trying to finalize drug-pricing legislation in the coming weeks on a package of bills that would include some drug patent changes already approved by two other Senate panels.
Having a lengthy list of small policy changes that together could equal a major overhaul may get the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate, but the legislation is running into some problems between the committee chairs over which committees should be in charge.
Senate leaders are debating how to encourage new generics to market and tackle how pharmaceutical benefit managers (PBMs) influence the cost of prescription drugs, among other measures.
The price of prescription drugs is one of TSCL’s top priorities, and we will closely monitor the progress of these committees as their work continues.
