Posted by Michael Wonder on 12 Dec 2019
House votes to give the Government the power to negotiate drug prices
12 December 2019 - The high-profile measure would curb the price of prescription drugs and extend more benefits to Medicare beneficiaries.
The House, delivering on one of the Democrats’ central campaign promises, on Thursday passed ambitious legislation to lower the rising cost of prescription drugs by empowering the federal government to negotiate prices with pharmaceutical manufacturers.
The bill, known as H.R. 3 — a numerical designation that reflects its position on Democrats’ priority list — would make significant changes to the federal Medicare program, which provides health coverage to older Americans. It passed largely on party lines, 230-192, and includes provisions to create new vision, dental and hearing benefits and caps out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries at $2,000.
