Posted by Michael Wonder on 01 Jul 2019
Nancy Pelosi’s latest Medicare proposal would pass drug discounts to all consumers
1 July 2019 - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is working on a proposal that would give the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services the power to negotiate lower drug costs for Medicare.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s latest draft of legislation allowing Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices would also apply those discounts to private health plans across the U.S., according to a senior Democratic aide.
The Department of Health and Human Services is currently prohibited from negotiating drug prices on behalf of Medicare — the federal government’s health insurance plan for the elderly. Pelosi has been working for months on a plan that would give HHS that power, which private health insurers already have. The most recent draft of the legislation proposes to extend those cost savings to private insurance plans, the aide said, asking not to be identified because the legislation is still being drafted and could change.
