Posted by Michael Wonder on 11 Dec 2019
Pelosi agrees to expand drug price bill to win support from AOC, other Democrats
11 December 2019 - The bill originally allows U.S. health officials to negotiate the prices Medicare pays for at least 35 different prescription drugs.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has brokered a deal with a key block of Democrats that threatened to derail passage of her sweeping bill overhauling drug prices.
Pelosi met late Tuesday with Reps. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Mark Pocan, D-Wis., co-leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. The caucus said the legislation didn’t go far enough and was threatening to oppose it on the House floor when it is voted on later this week.
The bill originally allowed U.S. health officials to negotiate the prices Medicare pays for at least 35 different prescription drugs. As part of the deal, Democratic leaders agreed to raise that to a minimum of 50 drugs. Pelosi also agreed to restore a provision of the bill that protects employer-sponsored health plans from drug price spikes.
