House passes drug price controls

The House of Representatives passed a rushed and highly politicized measure today giving Medicare the power to set prices on certain drugs—and now it’s up to the Senate to ensure that future cures are not put at risk.

The news: The House passed the Build Back Better Act, President Biden’s $1.75 trillion social spending plan, 220-213, with all Republicans and only one Democrat (Rep. Jared Golden of Maine) voting against it.

The rushed and highly politicized drug pricing “deal” allows the government to fix prices of certain drugs, reports Good Day BIO.

“The policy will create billions of dollars in market distortions and unintended consequences,” Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) President and CEO Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath said previously. “It will disrupt our innovation ecosystem and crowd out the next generation of new therapies that could transform the standard of care for patients and help bring down our nation’s long-term health care costs. It will have enormous implications in what research investments are made and if important new classes of medicines can attract the funding they need to get from the bench to a patient’s bedside.”

“The goal of the bill is to ‘build back better.’ But for the scientists working in labs, this legislation makes building future drugs nearly impossible,” said Dr. McMurry-Heath..

So, what happens now? Now, it’s up to the Senate—and changes to the bill are certain, though it’s unclear yet exactly what. In the meantime, the Senate is unlikely to pass the bill before Thanksgiving, which means it’s prime time to take action to stop it.

Now’s the time to contact your U.S. Senators and explain to them why drug price controls in Build Back Better will harm patients and future cures—visit BIOAction to learn more and send your message.

Need more convincing? Listen to learn how drug price controls end up hurting patients.