US committee votes in favour of Pelosi’s drug pricing plan

The US House Committee on Energy & Commerce has voted to advance a drug pricing plan which would lower the cost of many prescription drugs.

In a press release published on Thursday, October 17, the committee said the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, which was proposed by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, will give the government the ability to negotiate lower drug prices with pharmaceutical companies.

“The American people … are rightfully outraged that they are paying three, four or ten times more for the same drugs than people are paying in other countries. It’s time we finally negotiate a better deal,” the statement said.

Under the proposed legislation, Medicare beneficiaries’ expenses will be capped at $2,000 a year.

Additionally, the lower price negotiated by the government on drugs will be required to remain in place until there are two or more generic competitors on the market.

The committee estimated that the act will save American households $158 billion while saving private businesses $46 billion.

“These tremendous savings confirm that this bill fulfils our commitment to lowering prescription drug costs for Americans. Taken together these bills will make great strides toward reining in the soaring costs of prescription drugs and improving the quality of healthcare for Americans,” the committee said.

Energy and Commerce chairman Frank Pallone, Jr said the “transformative legislation” will save taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars that can be reinvested in the search for new cures and treatments and strengthening the US healthcare system.

The news comes less than a month after the drug pricing plan was first unveiled by Pelosi on September 19, as reported by LSIPR.

The plan called for Medicare to negotiate prices on at least 25 medicines and up to 250 drugs.

At the time, the plan faced criticism from the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, which claimed the bill would upend the US’ standing as a world leader in biomedical innovation.

In a statement issued last week, former Congressman Jim Greenwood, who also serves as president and CEO of BIO, described the legislation as an “assault on an innovative industry”.

“Industry analysts have predicted time and again that the heavy-handed approach taken in this bill will dry up the private investment these startups rely on to fund their research and development,” he said.

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