Drug pricing bills introduced in House and Senate

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr., D-NJ, today re-introduced the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act (H.R. 3) with other Democratic committee leaders.

The legislation would authorize the Health and Human Services Secretary to negotiate Medicare prescription drug prices; cap beneficiary out-of-pocket spending for prescription drugs at $2,000 per year; require drug makers that increase prices faster than inflation to pay a rebate to the federal government; and invest anticipated savings in federal programs to develop treatments and address the opioid crisis.

Yesterday, House Republican committee leaders introduced the Lower Cost, More Cures Act (H.R. 19), also intended to lower drug costs. View a summary here.

In addition, Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, introduced AHA-supported legislation that would reduce spending on discarded medications that are the result of excessively large, single-use drug vials. The Recovering Excessive Funds for Unused and Needless Drugs (REFUND) Act would enable Medicare to recoup money from drug companies that are paid for wasted medications, and provide savings to seniors enrolled in Medicare.