Big Pharma owns DC to where this is deemed by some as a breakthrough.
The Hill indicates Bernie sees things the same as Crabgrass sees - too little, and he has amendment in mind.
Crabgrass' view is nothing of substance will result. Bernie's position is that Medicare should get the same pricing as the VA enjoys, having had power to negotiate prices with Big Pharma for years. That makes sense. However, sense making is MIA in DC.
Look for posturing, no substance.
Seattle Times carries a NYTimes feed. Reuters.
________UPDATE________
The Hill on AARP and Big Pharma having opposing views and aims.
A separate item, again The Hill, where late in the item -
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, half of all drugs covered by Medicare had price increases above the rate of inflation from 2019 to 2020.
If the legislation passes, “this is a sea change. It’s going to change the trajectory of drug prices and drug price policy in the country,” said David Mitchell, president and founder of the advocacy group Patients for Affordable Drugs.
The legislation could pass the Senate as early as this weekend, assuming that the upper chamber’s parliamentarian says that the drug pricing provisions can be included under budget reconciliation rules, which allow Democrats to bypass the 60-vote legislative filibuster.
The prescription drug plan contains the most popular provisions in the reconciliation package, according to a recent Morning Consult-Politico poll. Roughly three out of four respondents expressed support for the drug pricing measures.
But the pharmaceutical industry is on pace to break lobbying records in its effort to oppose the legislation. According to Open Secrets, the industry has spent $187 million in the first half of 2022 alone.
The industry’s largest lobbying group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), sent a letter to every member of Congress on Thursday to urge them to vote against the legislation.
The letter largely reiterated the longstanding argument made by the industry group that the legislation would lead to government price controls and fewer cures available to Americans.
“This bill will not provide relief for families struggling with inflation or help the average American patient afford their medicines. It will be remembered as a historic mistake that devastated patients desperate for new cures,” Stephen Ubl, president and chief executive officer of PhRMA, wrote in the letter, which was also signed by the group’s 31 board members.
During a recent briefing, Ubl said the group is assessing its options, and indicated that even if the legislation passes, the industry won’t back down.
“We’re not going to take any option off the table. We’ll examine all legislative, regulatory, legal efforts to ensure patients continue to have access to medicines and our companies have the ability to develop them,” Ubl said.
In recent years, Congress has tried to rein in drug prices without Medicare negotiation. In 2019, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced a bipartisan drug pricing bill.
Similar to the reconciliation provisions, it would have included a cap on seniors’ out-of-pocket drug costs in Medicare, and would have limited Medicare drug price increases to the rate of inflation. But the bill was never brought up for a vote.
Congress has also looked into stopping what lawmakers decry as anti-competitive industry practices, like raising prices in lockstep with competitors or manipulating patent laws to extend market exclusivity.
[italics added] The polling shows why the Dems are afoot for a change. The midterm Red Wave predictions get this show bill, with tiny substance, being trotted out as if major. We are being BSed.
Same item, opening text -
The powerful pharmaceutical industry is on the verge of a rare defeat in Congress, as Democrats say they have the votes to pass legislation targeting high drug costs.
After securing the support of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) late Thursday, Senate Democrats appear poised to pass sweeping legislation that, among a host of climate and tax measures, would allow Medicare to negotiate the costs of some prescription drugs for the first time ever.
Democrats have sought for decades to allow Medicare to directly negotiate with drug companies as a way to bring down costs, starting with President Clinton’s ambitious health reform plan in 1993.
While relatively modest, the negotiation provision still represents a major victory for drug pricing advocates, and could give Democrats a boost heading into the midterm elections.
The idea is broadly supported by voters, but the industry has long fought off any efforts to impose what they see as price controls, even amid growing bipartisan anger over high drug costs.
[italics added] Is it sinking in? An attempt to salvage best outcomes, this November. Otherwise, where is the sincerity? So little. So very, very, very little. The simple provision that Medicare get identical pricing against Big Pharma to what the VA has would show more to voters. Of course, Big Pharma could then push on the VA to get prices escalated, and Big Pharma would. Big Pharma loves cash flow, hates the people, and owns lots of politicians. How it is is not how it should be, but we live under the curse of "is" and the faint ever weakening hope for "should be."
Same item from the Hill - Opening image/caption
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Amy's seat is not up this election. She'll remain in the Senate. However, if Amy is the heart and face of this bill, you know it is small. It is a first, but it is small. Bernie sees the big picture. Amy has an instinctive sense for the small picture. As progressive as Bernie? No. More progressive than a brick. Yes. It is only a guess, but a bit more progressive than Schumer. Setting the bar low, but she is still a notch better.
_________FURTHER UPDATE__________
Don't see it reported on Strib's homepage? Oh, my.
Waiting to see Strib's Editorial Board to post in favor of the camel's-nose-under-the-tent measure? Keep waiting. Aside from Omar, (and McCollum on enviromental issues), Minnesota's Congressional delegation is conservative. McCollum is a moderate, but the rest, forget it. McCollum is being primaried by a person of color whose website, when first looked at by Crabgrass, said zippo about sulfide mining, or about the environment as an issue.
Checking its current status, link, Badhasso the challenger has now added a climate change ++ issue statement that currently reads:
Environmental Justice
Our state, our country, and our world are at a crossroads. We must address the climate change crisis now with bold, transformative action that will protect our planet. We must pass a Green New Deal that will massively scale down carbon emissions, meet 100% of our power demand through clean, renewable and zero-emission energy sources, and build energy efficient, distributed smart power grids to ensure access to affordable electricity.
I also support:
Saving and protecting our Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Superior National Forest
Ending fossil fuel subsidies and blocking new fossil fuel infrastructure investments
Investing in areas that have been victim to environmental racism
Ensuring every zip code has access to clean drinking water by replacing every lead pipe in America
Banning fracking
Investing in high-speed rail, public transportation and zero-emission vehicle infrastructure
Building walkable, transit-oriented communities
Better than before, but the bet is McCullom gains a landslide primary win. MN4 is an urban and not a rural district. However, how "Green New Deal," as it means to Badhasso, squares with Cargill and ag issues, would be worth a word or two.
McCullom wants to ban sulfide mining in the BWCA and Rainy River watershed. She has written bill text aimed that way. Specificity matters.
BOTTOM LINE: Looking past Omar and McCullom, the delegation is quite corporate friendly and otherwise conservative on the Dem side - kindred souls to Scott Jensen among Republican Reps.
Will this marginally improving pharma bill tip the GOTV scales? While not a zinger, it might goose up the numbers somewhat. But a zinger is needed and corporatist conservatives do not seem to have the wherewithal to zing.
Backpatting over this "still with training wheels" provision, after Bernie's amendment proposals get routinely tanked, seems too little to move the needle off zero to a GOTV heaven rating. Abortion reform at the national level, by legislation, will be what moves the needle, if it is moved at all near to victory. An incremental uptick from this pharma thing will help. But not enough. It will be interesting to see how politician advertising up to the November vote plays out. Soon Congress will recess and we shall see who advertises what.