Washington — Top Senate Democrats Released Wednesday The latest plans aimed at reducing the cost of prescription drugsSignaling the development of an important part of President Biden’s deadlocked social safety net, climate and part of their bid to bail out some of the tax bills.
Democratic leaders negotiated primarily with West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin III. He suddenly left Mr. Biden’s negotiations on the Marquee National Policy Bill in December and virtually did not get it on track.
They announced plans this week over Republican opposition to smooth the way to a reduced tax and climate change spending package that hopes to pass the Senate at the earliest this month. This will be partially paid by prescription drug proposals that are expected to save the government tens of billions of dollars over the next few years.
Under the new measures, Medicare was first allowed to directly regulate the price of prescription drugs. It will limit the out-of-pocket costs that Medicare patients are required to pay for prescription drugs to $ 2,000 a year, limit the amount that pharmaceutical companies can raise each year, and make more vaccines free for those patients. is. draft I will submit it on Wednesday.
The release is the most substantial step in months to revive some of Biden’s trillion-dollar plans, with key Democrats responding to the tastes of Manchin and other centrists. Came after a series of painstaking private talks that I’ve been working on for in the Senate.
Republicans are expected to oppose uniformly, so all Democrats need help to move forward in an evenly divided Senate under special budget rules that can protect against filibuster. is.
Senator Chuck Schumer, a Democrat and leader of the majority in New York, has personally expressed his desire to vote on such a bill by the end of this month. Some aides and lawmakers remain skeptical that the Democratic Party will be able to coalesce within six months of the midterm elections amid persistent concerns about rising inflation.
Prior to the planned abortion in August, the Democratic Party also held a tight time frame to pass manufacturing and technology laws aimed at making the United States more competitive with China, and the Roe v. Wade case. Coordinating public pressure to respond to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn. Recognized the constitutional right to abortion.
To begin clearing procedural hurdles and pave the way for swift action if broader deals can be achieved, Wednesday’s top Democrats will ask Senators to begin reviewing updated drug price plans. I asked. A private discussion that revealed them on condition of anonymity. As the Democratic Party plans to use a rapid budgeting process called reconciliation, this measure must comply with the strict restrictions enforced by the Senate’s Supreme Rule Authority.
The drug price regulation proposal was the basis of Mr. Biden’s $ 2.2 trillion plan, the Buildback Better Act, which covered much of his national agenda. He passed the House of Representatives in November with only a Democratic vote, but stalled a month later after Mr Manchin declared that he couldn’t support such a vast and expensive package as inflation began to rise.
Manchin reiterated that every package needs to focus on reducing government bonds, tackling the cost of prescription drugs, and revoking some of the tax laws that the Republicans suffered in 2017. Along with the changes, Manchin has shown openness to include climate and clean energy tax packages in his talks with Schumaer.
“Senator Manchin has long proposed a proposal to reduce the cost of prescription drugs for the elderly, but his support for this proposal has never been questioned,” said spokeswoman Sam Lunyeong. increase. “He is pleased that all 50 Democrats agree.”
Reducing the high cost of prescription drugs remains a top priority for voters, and the Democratic Party has vowed to work unsuccessfully for years. The benefits of current Medicare medicines are high for many patients, as the program cannot negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies and requires beneficiaries to pay a portion of the cost of expensive medicines with no caps. I am exposed to. Some older people taking expensive medicines for cancer and autoimmune diseases regularly spend more than $ 15,000 a year on medicines.
Manchin and Schumaer have met repeatedly over the past few weeks to come up with details of a deal that could amount to about $ 1 trillion. The tax component must also win the support of Arizona Senator Kyrsten Cinema, who resisted her party’s proposal to overhaul tax law for payment of a wide range of safety net packages. not.
Discussions centered around the rest of these are expected to continue. The Democratic Party has already shelved many plans to increase support for families and children in order to keep the overall cost of legislation low and attract Mr Manchin’s support.
They are also promoting the inclusion of extended health insurance reform subsidies under the $ 1.9 trillion pandemic bailout law enacted last year. They are set to expire at the end of the year.
The drug package announced on Wednesday is similar to the drug provisions that were part of previous negotiations. But it reflects part of the pair’s negotiations. It now extends financial assistance to more low-income seniors and reduces their premiums, deductions, and other payments in Medicare drug benefits.
The current program provides such support to older people with incomes of less than 135% of federal poverty levels (about $ 18,000 per year for individuals) and more limited to beneficiaries with slightly higher incomes. Assistance is provided. In summary, the law will extend these subsidies to 150 percent of poverty levels (about $ 20,000 a year).
The Department of Health and Human Services also needs to negotiate low prices for Medicare for certain prescription drugs. Earlier law gave the department such discretion, but did not require it, and Democrats were worried that the future health minister of the Republican administration might decline.
Certain provisions of the original drug bill have also been removed. This includes provisions that limit the amount that Americans are required to pay from their insulin pocket each month. But it’s unclear whether a vote on another bipartisan insulin bill, led by Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins and New Hampshire Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, will get enough Republican support. However, it will be held in the Senate in the coming weeks.
Debra DeShong, executive vice president of public relations for drug trading group PhRMA, has expressed dissatisfaction with the proposal, and some technical adjustments could cost Medicare recipients more than they had spent on previous versions of the bill. Said there was sex. The industry has long opposed efforts to regulate prices.
“The prescription drug invoices released today have changed from terrible to terrible for patients,” she said in a statement. “The Democratic Party has weakened the protection against patient costs included in previous versions, but has doubled the government’s pricing policies that threaten patient access and future innovation.”
Biden’s popularity continues to decline, and fears that the Democrats will lose control of Congress are increasing the urgency surrounding the entire package.
Last week, the Supreme Court’s decision to limit the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to deal with carbon emissions motivated Democrats to pass a bill to counter the effects of climate change. The proposal under discussion could include as much as $ 300 billion in clean energy tax incentives first approved by the House of Representatives in November.
Senator Tina Smith, a Democrat in Minnesota, said:
Republicans continue to uniformly oppose the domestic policy package. Some Republicans have been vigilant as West Virginia citizens have resumed talks with Schumer in recent weeks after supporting Manchin’s decision to leave the talks in December.
Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, a minority leader, threatens to move Republicans away from bipartisan-backed manufacturing and technology bills if Democrats insist on climate change spending and tax package bailouts. rice field.
In a speech at the Paducah Regional Chamber of Commerce in Kentucky on Tuesday, McConnell condemned the bill, warning that “if they get it back, it will only make all of this considerably worse.”