WASHINGTON — The House will hold a showdown vote next week on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s bill empowering Medicare to negotiate prices for costly prescription drugs, her office announced Thursday.
Democrats have said they would plow billions of dollars in projected savings from the legislation into expanded benefits for seniors, such as vision and dental coverage.
Her bill is expected to pass the Democratic-controlled House, but it has no chance in the Republican-run Senate.
President Donald Trump, as a candidate, called for giving Medicare negotiating clout, but since taking office he has backed off. The White House is strongly opposed to Pelosi’s bill, arguing it will keep up to 100 new drugs from coming to market over a decade. That estimate is far higher than the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has calculated.