Sanders, Cassidy will mark up drug pricing bills next week

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) will hold a bipartisan markup next week on legislation to lower drug prices, committee leaders announced Tuesday.

The May 2 markup will include bills on increasing competition for generic drugs, pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) industry transparency, and access to treatments for rare disease patients. Committee Chairman Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Ranking Member Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) will lead the meeting.

The markup shows there is still a path forward for bipartisan work on lowering prescription drug prices that could pass the Senate. PBMs in particular are facing pressure from multiple angles.

The HELP committee bills could be combined with a bipartisan PBM bill sponsored by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) from the Senate Commerce Committee, as well as legislation capping the out-of-pocket cost of insulin at $35 for everyone with private insurance.

But it’s still unclear that even with some bipartisan support, there would be enough Republicans who would vote in favor to get the needed 60 votes in the Senate.  

It’s also unclear whether the GOP-controlled House would have an interest in taking up the legislation, especially if it includes insulin caps. But there has been some bipartisan interest in drug pricing proposals in the House, especially those focused on PBMS.