Democrats Dig In on Measure to Compel Drug-Pricing Negotiations

Democratic leaders of a key House committee insisted they would push to empower the government to negotiate with drugmakers, saying it was essential to lowering Americans’ pharmacy expenses.

The Democrats’ goal of passing a drug price negotiation measure (H.R. 3) confronts widespread opposition from Republicans and further hurdles in the Senate. Anything short of their bill wouldn’t be enough, Democrats said Tuesday, suggesting limited room for bipartisan negotiation.

The legislation is the “comprehensive solution this country needs to fix our broken market for prescription drugs,” Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said. “We need to act on H.R. 3,” he said ...