Emily
Editor, Senior Moderator
https://prospect.org/health/billionaire-behind-the-fight-for-lower-drug-prices-john-arnold/
The Billionaire Behind the Fight for Lower Drug Prices
A former Enron executive has poured tens of millions into national drug pricing reform. Why hasn’t it worked?
by Rose Adams
November 15, 2021
...
But in terms of spurring national legislation, Arnold Ventures has come up short. In 2019, the group helped shape H.R. 3, a bill that would have capped prescription drug costs and allowed Medicare to negotiate prices. But the bill died in the Senate. This year, Congress modeled the drug pricing provisions in the Build Back Better Act after H.R. 3, but the bill was ultimately watered down in order to win over Big Pharma–funded Democrats.
While H.R. 3 would have capped the prices of up to 50 prescription drugs per year to 120 percent of the average cost of those drugs in five foreign countries—among many other significant reforms—the current deal in the Build Back Better Act permits Medicare to negotiate on only up to ten per year to start (gradually rising to 20) of the more expensive drugs that have been on the market for at least nine years, with no international reference point.
The Billionaire Behind the Fight for Lower Drug Prices
A former Enron executive has poured tens of millions into national drug pricing reform. Why hasn’t it worked?
by Rose Adams
November 15, 2021
...
But in terms of spurring national legislation, Arnold Ventures has come up short. In 2019, the group helped shape H.R. 3, a bill that would have capped prescription drug costs and allowed Medicare to negotiate prices. But the bill died in the Senate. This year, Congress modeled the drug pricing provisions in the Build Back Better Act after H.R. 3, but the bill was ultimately watered down in order to win over Big Pharma–funded Democrats.
While H.R. 3 would have capped the prices of up to 50 prescription drugs per year to 120 percent of the average cost of those drugs in five foreign countries—among many other significant reforms—the current deal in the Build Back Better Act permits Medicare to negotiate on only up to ten per year to start (gradually rising to 20) of the more expensive drugs that have been on the market for at least nine years, with no international reference point.
