Democrats’ drug pricing deal could have been much worse

While pharmaceutical companies are far from pleased with the drug pricing provisions congressional Democrats have agreed to include in the Build Back Better Act, the industry realizes that the deal could have been much worse. And the industry seems to be on the verge of achieving one of its top priorities, capping the out-of-pocket costs seniors pay for drugs dispensed at pharmacy counters.

The authorization of government price-setting for some Medicare drugs would breach a wall that pharmas have held in place for almost 18 years, and in this sense would represent the first major defeat of the industry in recent history. ...