Posted by Michael Wonder on 29 Apr 2019
Progressive Democrats have a plan to drastically lower drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries
29 April 2019 - Medicare is prohibited by law from doing what every other health insurance company does. It cannot negotiate with Big Pharma over drug prices. Instead, Medicare and its beneficiaries must pay whatever prices they are charged.
This past November, Democrats in the House of Representatives ran and won on the promise to unshackle Medicare and let it negotiate lower drug prices. Today, the Congressional Progressive Caucus endorsed a bill that would fulfill that promise.
The Medicare Negotiation and Competitive Licensing Act of 2019, sponsored by Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) and 122 of his fellow Democrats, is currently pending before the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Ways and Means Committee. The bill authorizes the government to negotiate drug prices. If a drug company refuses to negotiate in good faith, the government can offer a competitive license to another, so that prices can be set by competition, not by monopoly.
