GOP Avoids Drug Cost Questions During Becerra HHS Hearings

March 5, 2021

Xavier Becerra is Biden’s pick for HHS (Health and Human Services). Earlier this week, he took questions from Republican lawmakers, covering a wide range of topics. Probing questions related to health insurance coverage were thoroughly covered. However, the GOP avoided questions related to drug pricing, in a move that may prove concerning for pharma companies. Therapies developed to prevent and treat COVID-19 have been considered a safeguard against new drug pricing laws, but doubt remains.

“Republican lawmakers grilled Biden’s HHS nominee Xavier Becerra on all sorts of topics — from march-in rights, to abortion, to Medicare For All. But lobbyists say the lack of attention to Medicare drug-price negotiation is yet another sign that Republicans are wary of publicly opposing an issue that is so popular among voters in both parties.” Read more here.

(Source: John Wilkerson, Inside Health Policy, 3/1/21)

 

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