House Democrats are ready to unveil in September a much-talked about bill to lower drug prices.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's top healthcare adviser, Wendell Primus, said the legislation is ready to go, but supporters do not want to give drug companies the chance to attack it during Congress' August recess, The Hill reported.
"Pharma will argue very hard against drug negotiation of the kind we're talking about," Primus said at a Brookings Institution event in Washington, The Hill reported.
Primus said the bill will let Medicare negotiate drug prices — and they will apply to private insurers as well, bringing down costs across the market, The Hill reported.
If Medicare and drug companies cannot agree on a price, Primus said there would be a tax on the drug companies. He also said there would be an arbitration process to help resolve disputes.
Primus added he is "still very optimistic" President Donald Trump — who also supports lowering drug prices — would sign the proposal. House Republicans have been opposed to the idea of Medicare-negotiated drug prices, The Hill noted.
"If the Democrats unveil this and the administration says they like it, you could see this passing the House overwhelmingly," Primus said.
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