House Democrats are looking to force Republicans into making a difficult choice on legislation to lower drug prices by tying bipartisan bills to Obamacare, Politico reports.
Democratic leaders combined three bipartisan drug pricing bills with a series of proposals that would scale back the Trump Administration’s attempts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, forcing Republicans to either protect Obamacare or refuse to support bills that would lower drug costs. The measures included wouldn’t have a huge effect on lowering the cost of drugs, but they would prevent manufacturers from engaging in anticompetitive behavior.
“I’m not very happy at all,” said Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., whose bill was included in the package being voted on. “They know that we’re not going to be able to support this, and for them to put that in there I think is just poor policy.”
“Generally speaking, the House puts itself in a stronger negotiating position with the Senate when they do bipartisan work,” said health consultant and former GOP congressional aide Rodney Whitlock. “This is effectively saying they are not going to be.”
"I would be very surprised if the ACA stuff survives that [House and Senate] conference unless Democrats ultimately decide they would rather have no deal and live to fight another day," said Michael Werner, a lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry. "We've got about a year until we're in full political season anyway, and then all bets are off."
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