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 Initial reaction to Pelosi's plan was negative from House and Senate
Republicans, many of whom are not keen on letting the government
negotiate prices, viewing it as price fixing.
After Pelosi unveiled her proposal, Trump said on Twitter he liked
an alternative authored by Republican Senator Chuck Grassley "very
much." But Trump also said it was "great to see" Pelosi's bill and
he urged a bipartisan approach.
It was unclear how much support Pelosi's proposal will receive ahead
of the November 2020 presidential and congressional election.
Healthcare costs are a top issue for Democrats campaigning for their
party's nomination.
"We hope to have White House buy-in, because that seems to be the
root to getting any votes in the United States Senate, and we want
as strong a bipartisan vote as we can in the House and the Senate,"
Pelosi told a news conference.
Americans pay the highest prices for prescription drugs in the
world. Most other developed nations have single-payer systems with
their governments negotiating prices. Trump has slammed lower drug
prices abroad as "global freeloading."
Pelosi's proposal would allow the U.S. government every year to
negotiate prices on at least 25 of the 250 most costly drugs that
lack competition, a summary of the bill said. The lower prices would
be available to all U.S. consumers, not just the government's
Medicare program for the elderly. Companies that refuse to negotiate
would face monetary penalties.
Democrats promised to curb prescription drug prices during last
year's congressional election campaign, when they captured the
majority in the House of Representatives.
Trump has also promised to lower prices but has been struggling to
deliver on that before the 2020 election.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, in an interview with
Politico, ruled out any Senate action on Pelosi's bill but the
Republican said the chamber is still "looking at doing something on
drug pricing."
In the House, Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy labeled Pelosi's plan
"more socialism." A drug industry trade group called it "radical"
while some liberal House Democrats said it did not go far enough to
bring down prices.
Pelosi, who consulted with the White House while developing the
bill, said she hoped for a bipartisan effort - a rarity in Trump's
highly polarized Washington.
"My conversations with the president have been about making this a
priority," she said. "I believe that he considers it so and we can
work together."
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The U.S. government in 2016 spent around $29 billion on prescription
drugs in Medicare's Part B, which includes most injectable drugs,
and nearly $100 billion in Part D, which covers pills and other
drugs usually dispensed in pharmacies.
'PAINFUL' PENALTIES
Drug companies that refuse to negotiate would have to pay a
"non-compliance fee starting at 65 percent of the gross sales of the
drug in question," the bill summary said. This would increase by 10%
every quarter up to a maximum of 95%. Pelosi said penalties had to
be "painful" in order to work.
The plan set an upper limit for negotiated prices as no more than
120% of the volume-weighted average of the prices paid in six other
countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Britain.
The price index provision could be aimed at getting White House
support, since the Trump administration has said it is working on a
similar rule on some Medicare drug prices.
Grassley urged senators to back the drug pricing bill he authored
together with Democrat Ron Wyden as the "moderate" alternative to
Pelosi's approach.
The drug industry lobbying group PhRMA said Pelosi's plan "would end
the current market based system that has made the United States the
global leader in developing innovative, lifesaving treatments and
cures."
The Pelosi proposal threads the needle between moderate and more
left-leaning Democrats in the House, but is too liberal for the
Republican-led Senate, said Dan Mendelson, founder of healthcare
consultancy Avalere Health.
Some progressive Democrats want changes in the bill.
Representative Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat, dislikes letting drug
companies set a "launch" price for new drugs a year before price
talks begin, and said negotiating over a minimum of 25 drugs a year
is too few.
The New Democrats, a group of House moderates, voiced optimism after
meeting Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar that the two
parties could forge a bipartisan deal that Trump would sign into
law.
(Reporting by Susan Cornwell, additional reporting by Michael Erman
and Caroline Humer in New York and Richard Cowan; Editing by David
Gregorio and Howard Goller)
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