Virginia’s U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine joined U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and 29 of their colleagues to introduce legislation to lower prescription drug costs this week. The bill would allow for Medicare to negotiate the best possible price of prescription drugs to cut costs for nearly 41 million seniors enrolled in Medicare Part D. Current law only allows for bargaining by pharmaceutical companies and bans Medicare from doing so.
The legislation would permit the Secretary of Health and Human Services to directly negotiate with drug companies for price discounts for the Medicare Prescription Drug Program, eliminating the “non-interference” clause that expressly bans Medicare from negotiating for the best possible prices.
