Despite growing public concern, Congress is highly unlikely to address high drug prices this year.
A confluence of factors such as big fiscal fights and no consensus on how to move forward means no action is likely to occur in 2015, sources say.
A big problem is time.
Congress has a jam-packed schedule for the rest of the year, starting with an Oct. 1 deadline to fund the government. Some conservatives want to shut down the government unless Planned Parenthood is defunded.
After that the deadline to raise the debt ceiling is looming.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew sent a letter to Congress on Sept. 10 asking leaders to “raise the debt limit as soon as possible.” He said the government has been operating on extraordinary measures since July 29 to ensure the government doesn’t default.
“There is a lot of stuff to do,” a Democratic aide on the House Ways and Means Committee told the Washington Examiner. “There is no pressing health vehicle that is going to drive us.”
There is also no consensus on how to approach the issue.
Several ideas have been proposed about “how to do something that would be effective,” said John Rother, leader of the advocacy group Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing.
“They vary widely and I think that Congress typically wants to see a more consistent message from stakeholders about desired action,” he told the Examiner.
One bill has been filed in the Senate directly targeting high drug prices, but Rother said it appears unlikely to move forward as currently drafted.
Presidential candidate and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a bill earlier this month that proposes a series of reforms targeting high drug prices.
Among the proposals are allowing Medicare to negotiate with drug companies for high prices, enable patients to import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada and require generic drugs to offer Medicare rebates.
The bill also would require drug companies to disclose research and development costs incurred while making a drug. Several states are already pursuing similar measures.
A common argument among drug companies in justifying high prices is the high cost and time of development. Studies have shown that a new drug can cost up to $2 billion and take about a decade to reach the market.The bill got blowback from the pharmaceutical industry, which is worried that any attempt on prices could hinder innovation.
“Short-sighted attempts to arbitrarily cap spending would send a signal to researchers and investors that innovation is no longer valued and would result in fewer treatment options for patients,” according to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
Rother said intense lobbying from the pharmaceutical industry is another reason why the issue is unlikely to be brought up this year.
In 2014, the industry spent nearly $230 million on lobbying members of Congress, just a little above the $226 million spent in 2013. As of July, the industry has spent about $124 million, according to the nonprofit group Center for Responsive Politics.
PhRMA, the industry’s main trade and lobbying group, did not immediately return a request for comment.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., laid blame on the GOP-controlled Congress. Cummings is a supporter of Sanders’ bill and has been investigating high prices with the senator for more than a year.
“There have been very few bills on this issue because Republicans in Congress have been wasting time repeatedly attacking the Affordable Care Act with more than 50 votes in the House of Representatives instead of focusing on measures to enhance its effectiveness,” Cummings said.
Public sentiment is largely behind ensuring that high-cost drugs for chronic conditions such as hepatitis, cancer or HIV are affordable.
An April poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 76 percent of those surveyed want to keep those drugs affordable, with 66 percent of Republicans and 87 percent of Democrats in favor.
But only 51 percent of Republicans and 63 percent of Democrats want the government to take action to reduce drug prices.
Rothar said his group is expected to make a big push to address the issue next year. He isn’t deterred about next year’s presidential and congressional elections.
“Election season is a good time to raise issues that have strong public support and this certainly does,” he said.
