Drug pricing legislation might come sooner than later

An influential Senate committee is pressing forward with some surprisingly aggressive ideas on drug pricing, signaling that the last six months of bipartisan chatter may actually turn into legislation.

Next week, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee will vote on a legislative package that includes a crackdown on how PBMs charge for drugs and the tools pharma companies use to delay generic medicines.

As STAT’s Brittany Flaherty reports, the vote will mark the first time a Senate committee has taken up drug pricing legislation this year. It follows five hearings on ways to reduce health care costs and four hearings on the cost of prescription drugs.

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