Two congressional committees approved House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's drug pricing bill Oct. 17, leaving just two more committees to vote on it before it goes to the full House floor, according to CNBC.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the bill by a 30-22 vote. The House Education and Labor Committee approved the bill by a party-line vote.
The bill allows Medicare to negotiate prices on up to 250 of the most expensive drugs every year and to apply those discounts to private health plans across the U.S. It also puts a penalty on drugmakers that refuse to negotiate or that fail to reach an agreement with the government, starting at 65 percent of the gross sales of the drug.
Some changes to the bill were approved, including putting a price cap on new negotiated drugs until they have at least two generic competitors and raising the minimum number of drugs Medicare must negotiate from 25 to 35.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated Oct. 14 that Ms. Pelosi's bill would save Medicare $345 billion over 10 years.
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