STAT February 29, 2024
Operation Tweak the IRA commences
Two proposals to weaken Medicare’s drug price negotiation program are getting a hearing before a House Energy & Commerce subcommittee today.
One bill, dubbed the ORPHAN Cures Act, would allow an orphan drug to avoid negotiation as long as it is approved exclusively for rare diseases. Currently, the law only exempts drugs that have a single orphan designation from the negotiation process.
The bill has bipartisan backing, though Democratic lawmakers are a who’s who of pharmaceutical industry allies from states with a big biotech presence: Rep. Scott Peters (Calif.), Don Davis (N.C.), Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), and Wiley Nickel (N.C.).
The other, called the Maintaining Investments in New Innovation Act, would delay the negotiation process for...
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