Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill that would allow the government to negotiate Medicare prescription drug prices. (Source)
If passed by the Senate and signed into law by the president, the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007 would nullify the part of Medicare Part D law that prohibits the government from negotiating drug prices. As expected, it was a party line vote, with mostly Democrats voting in favor of the bill. According to the Washington Post, President Bush said he will veto the bill if it passes in the Senate.
According to a report from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Congressional Budget Office, the new law would have a “negligible effect on federal spending since the Secretary would be unable to negotiate prices across the broad range of covered Part D drugs that are more favorable than those obtained by PDPs under current law.â€
Lawmakers opposed to the legislation believe allowing competition in the prescription drug market is the best approach.