The White House Council of Economic Advisers on Tuesday slammed House Democrats’ hallmark plan to cut drug prices, arguing that it could keep up to 100 fewer life-saving drugs from reaching consumers over the next decade.
The bill backed by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) would cap drug prices at a fixed percentage of the average costs in other nations. The bill may be aimed at decreasing the cost of medicine, but it could also cut lifespans in the United States, according to the council. The advisers estimated that such a cap could lead to a drop in U.S. life expectancy by up to four months due to cuts in pharmaceutical firms’ research and development budgets.
“The Trump Administration is committed to lowering prescription drug prices while encouraging medical innovation to help patients access new lifesaving drugs,” the council said in a new report. “The Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019, may share the Trump Administration’s first goal of lowering prices, but the threat it poses to continued medical innovation will harm American patients in ways that far outweigh any benefits.”
The report is the latest volley in the ongoing struggle over how best to drive down Americans’ sky-high prescription drug prices. Although there has been a surprising bipartisan focus on this issue, the disagreement over how to resolve it highlights a deeper division over the role that government should play in health care, one that takes on greater significance in light of 2020 Democrats’ plans for radical socialization. – READ MORE