Reining in skyrocketing pharmaceutical pricing has been a priority of the Trump administration, and lawmakers have recently ramped up efforts to introduce legislation that would accomplish that goal – one of the few issues with bipartisan support.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is championing three pieces of legislation, including a proposal that would allow Americans to import drugs from Canada and a bill to ban the industry practice of paying generic manufacturers to delay production of off-patent drugs.
A few Democratic senators are pursuing slightly more ambitious legislation:
- Bernie Sanders (VT) proposes stripping drug companies of exclusive licenses.
- Elizabeth Warren (MA) wants to create a federal agency to manufacture generic drugs.
- Amy Klobuchar (MN), Kamala Harris (CA), and Richard Blumenthal (CT) support aggressively policing price-gouging.
Source: STAT News, January 9, 2019.