Democrats have reached an accord on slashing Medicare drug costs, including insulin, which will be reduced to $35 a dose, down from $600, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday.
The New York Democrat announced the deal after weeks of intraparty wrangling over how to curb skyrocketing drug costs for seniors in a new social welfare package the party hopes to pass in the coming weeks. The Medicare accord would curb costs for certain drugs by allowing the government to negotiate drug costs for Medicare parts B and D.
The agreement would cap out-of-pocket expenses at $2,000 per year, Schumer said, “ending the days where a life-changing diagnosis could mean thousands upon thousands of dollars in new expenses.”
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Schumer said the Medicare provisions “will reform the entire industry to stop price-gouging and change both drug company and health insurance centers to make sure our country’s drug pricing system benefits patients, not corporations.”
The language has the approval of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona Democrat who had pushed back against allowing the government to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies because of the threat to drug innovations critics say would result.
“So, I think we’re there,” Schumer said.
The Medicare language is one of a few major issues holding up the $1.75 trillion social welfare package. House Democrats hope to take up the legislation in the coming days but have not scheduled a vote.
