Democrats Announce Big Advance in US Drug Prices

Democrats announced a deal to cut sky-high prescription drug prices for millions of Americans, thus resolving a key dispute in negotiations over a massive expansion of the social safety net, stalled amid infighting in Congress.

The agreement empowers the government to negotiate the cost of certain prescription drugs beginning in 2023 and allows reimbursement on drugs whose prices rise faster than inflation.

“Setting prescription drug prices has been a major issue for Americans year after year, including the vast majority of Democrats and Republicans who want to see change because they simply cannot afford their medicines”Said Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

The agreement would limit patients’ out-of-pocket costs to $ 2,000 annually, and government price negotiations would begin with 10 drugs.

Schumer anticipated that it would also end excessive price increases such as insulin, which would drop from $ 600 to $ 35 a month.

Crucially, the agreement brings Democrats one step closer to a vote on the $ 1.75 trillion welfare spending plan, a pillar of the president’s legislative agenda. Joe Biden, along with a $ 1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Democrat Nancy Pelosi, has indicated that Democrats could resolve all unfinished business on the Build Back Better bill by the end of the day, clearing the way for a House vote this week.

However, several other political hurdles remain on the negotiating table, from immigration to child care to taxes.

Moderate Senator Joe Manchin on Monday put a brake on the ambitious packages, noting that he has yet to assess the economic impacts of Build Back Better.

Crucially, Manchin stressed that he could bury the bill, regardless of whether it passes in the lower house if the leadership in Congress and the White House do not lean further to the center.

The spending package on health, education and environmental and fiscal policies does not have Republican support, which means that it must be approved through a process known as “reconciliation” and cannot lose the vote of Manchin or another Democratic member in a Senate in equal parts (50-50) between the two parties.