Last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), along with several Democratic Senate and House members, including House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), announced the release of three bills intended to lower drug prices: The Prescription Drug Price Relief Act, The Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act; and The Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act.
Overall, these bills are intended to: fix the price of prescription drugs to the median price in five major countries (Canada, the U.K., France, Germany, and Japan); direct the Department of Health and Human Services to negotiate lower prices for Medicare Part D drugs; and allow consumers to import safe and low-cost medicine from Canada and other countries.
Earlier versions of these bills were released during the 115th Congressional Session. House Oversight Committee Chairman Cummings announced that the committee will hold a hearing on prescription drug price increases on Tuesday, January 29.
Also last week, President Trump and HHS Secretary Alex Azar met to discuss high drug costs.