Jan. 10, 2019
Dive
Brief:
- Senate Finance Committee Chairman
Chuck Grassley previewed Wednesday his health policy priorities for the
new Congress, pledging to scrutinize mergers such as the CVS-Aetna deal,
pursue bipartisan legislation to bring down drug costs and work to allow
cheaper drug imports from Canada.
- But the Republican from Iowa
warned that allowing Medicare Part D to directly negotiate with drug
companies is a proposal he has no interest in pursuing, saying that
intervening in the private sector is a step too far.
- Grassley also was a co-sponsor of
a bill to kill the 2.3% excise tax on medical devices, part of the
Affordable Care Act the industry has lobbied against for years.
Dive
Insight:
Grassley,
who has been critical of the pharmaceutical industry, pointed to three bills he
would like to move forward: the Creating Equal Access to Equivalent Samples
Act, which aims to prevent brand drugmakers from blocking generic manufacturer
competition; pay-for-delay legislation targeting anti-competitive patent
settlements payments from brands to generic makers to not compete; and
the Safe and Affordable Drugs from
Canada Act of 2019, which would allow importation of prescription
drugs from Canada.
The
drug importation bill, which Grassley introduced Wednesday with Democratic
Senator Amy Klobuchar for the new Congress, would permit importation of branded
drugs from approved pharmacies in Canada.
"Our
legislation would allow for the safe importation of less expensive drugs from
Canada, increasing competition, bringing down drug costs, and saving American
families money," Klobuchar said in a statement.
President
Donald Trump has backed the import idea, and taking on drugmakers for high
prices is seen as a rare potential area for bipartisan cooperation in the new
Congress. Last July HHS directed FDA to establish a
working group on drug importation, but the effort has seen little
movement since.
Grassley also
told reporters that he discussed healthcare antitrust concerns with Department
of Justice Attorney General nominee William Barr Wednesday morning, but said he
was unsure if he would lead specific investigations into individual mergers.
"This
is a major issue of mine," Grassley said. "I want to make sure that
the antitrust laws are enforced, I intend to pursue with the Justice Department
to make sure they are doing thorough reviews. When you have less competition,
you have higher prices."
He
also pegged waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid as a priority, and said
he would wait until comments are submitted on HHS' International Pricing Index
model before having a conversation with HHS Secretary Alex Azar about the
proposal.
"I
don't want foreign countries setting our drug prices," Grassley said.
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