U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) on Monday led 128 Republican cosponsors in unveiling a bipartisan counterproposal to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s drug-pricing plan.
“Our legislation will make sure that Americans can see reductions in the cost of their pharmaceutical drugs and that we won’t get in the way of new innovations to save peoples’ lives,” Rep. Walden said in a video statement released on Monday.
The congressman on Dec. 9 sponsored the Lower Costs, More Cures Act, H.R. 19, with original cosponsors including U.S. Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) to provide for certain reforms to the nation’s Medicare program, among numerous provisions. Reps. Walden and Collins are ranking members, respectively, of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee and the U.S. House Judiciary Committee.
The legislation is a package of bipartisan proposals offered in both houses of Congress that stand a solid chance of becoming law, according to Rep. Walden.
“I have talked with the president about it and I think he would sign our bill into law,” Rep. Walden said. “I think that this could become law and we could get help to consumers by the end of the year. We just need an opportunity to move it forward.”
If enacted, H.R. 19 would limit annual out-of-pocket costs for Medicare beneficiaries at $3,100; require insurance companies to make drug price information available at doctors’ offices so health care providers and patients can determine cost before a prescription is written; encourage competition by preventing abuses of the patent system and streamlining regulation of over-the-counter products; and establish a new negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to advocate for American consumers in trade agreements with respect to prescription drug prices, according to a bill summary provided by the lawmakers.
In contrast, Rep. Pelosi (D-CA) is pushing for consideration of the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019, H.R. 3, which is supported by 106 Democratic cosponsors and would establish several programs and requirements related to the prices of prescription drugs.
Supporters of H.R. 19 think that H.R. 3 would give the federal government unprecedented power over prescription drug pricing; lead to fewer new cures by disincentivizing medical innovation; and limit access to existing life-saving medicines.
H.R. 3 just isn’t a good proposal, said Reps. Walden and Collins in a joint statement issued with two other H.R. 19 cosponsors: U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), ranking member of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, and Virginia Foxx (R-NC), ranking member of the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee.
The lawmakers called H.R. 3 Speaker Pelosi’s drug-pricing scheme and said it’s “not only bad policy,” but it won’t become law because it’s partisan.
“Americans pay too much for prescription drugs and it’s not right — Congress needs to step up,” the lawmakers said.
U.S. Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) agreed.
“While Republicans worked with Democrats to pass bipartisan prescription drug pricing bills unanimously out of committee, Speaker Pelosi has ignored this important work and will instead bring a partisan, radical, Democrat-only bill to the House floor” this week, said Rep. Scalise.
In fact, according to the Council of Economic Advisers, Rep. Pelosi’s bill would prevent as many as 100 new cures from coming to market and lower Americans’ life expectancy by four months, he added.
“Only one of these bills has the potential to become law,” Rep. Scalise said. “While Speaker Pelosi’s partisan plan is dead on arrival in the Senate and won’t be signed by President Trump, H.R. 19 could be on President Trump’s desk today.”
Rep. Scalise urged Speaker Pelosi to “come to her senses. I am calling on her to bring H.R. 19 to the House floor for a vote this week. Americans need a bipartisan solution to prescription drug prices, not another doomed proposal from the Democrats.”
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), another original cosponsor of H.R. 19, also this week sought support from his congressional colleagues for the proposal.
“If Democrats are serious about lowering the cost of prescription drugs, they will join us to deliver this bipartisan solution our country desperately needs instead of passing partisan government price-fixing schemes,” Rep. Kelly said.