[W]ASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., met Wednesday with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office to discuss a plan that would allow the federal government to negotiate prescription drug prices for the Medicare program.
Welch urged the president to harness his business background and strike a huge deal for the American people.
Trump has repeatedly promised to lower drug prices. In January, the president decried the power of pharmaceutical companies in Washington, asserting they are “getting away with murder.”
The scheduled 30-minute meeting went on for nearly an hour, as Trump sat behind his desk in the Oval Office and paid close attention, according to Welch.
Welch left the meeting feeling hopeful.
“It was a surprise to me, but Donald Trump — President Trump — was fully engaged on this issue of getting better prices on drugs. He understands as a businessman that if you are buying a product wholesale, you should not be getting retail prices,” Welch said. “He seemed enthusiastic about following through.”
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., and Dr. Redonda Miller, president of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, also attended the meeting as part of a pitch for legislation that would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices.
Cummings and Welch have pushed the legislation for nearly a decade. The bill has seen little action.
The renewed push by Welch comes at a time when prescription drug costs are rising precipitously.
The price hike for the EpiPen, which has more than quintupled in cost since 2004, has sparked bipartisan outrage. The cost of Evzio, an anti-opioid overdose drug injector, has increased more than sixfold over the past two years, sparking an inquiry by Congress. In February, U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and other Democrats demanded answers from the manufacturer of Evzio.
Welch presented Trump and Tom Price, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, with draft legislation Wednesday that would direct HHS to negotiate lower drug prices under Medicare. When Price served as a representative from Georgia, he voted against the legislation.
“The president asked him about that, and Price said he was concerned about price setting,” Welch recalled. “But the bill is not about setting a price, it’s about negotiating a price.”
Trump seemed to understand the goal of the bill, Welch said.
“He seemed quite knowledgeable about pharmaceutical pricing, and quite concerned that there was pharmaceutical overpricing,” Welch said. “He seemed confident we could save billions of dollars to establish ‘bidding,’ a word he used.”
While millions of Americans receive prescriptions through Medicare, the federal government doesn’t have the authority to leverage its buying power to lower prices.
Congress inserted language explicitly prohibiting the HHS secretary from negotiating prices in the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act.
Meanwhile, private providers are able to negotiate directly with drug companies.
The federal government regulates prescription prices in the Veterans Affairs health care system and under Medicaid.
The Welch-Cummings bill would strike down the so-called “non-interference clause” of the 2003 Medicare act, which currently prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services from negotiating prices. It also directs HHS to establish formulas and regulatory consequences to strengthen the hand of the government in negotiations with drug firms.
The bill, if enacted, would restore the requirement that drug companies offer rebates for the poorest beneficiaries on Medicare, as is currently the case for Medicaid beneficiaries. This action would reduce the amount of federal Medicare money going to drug companies by $145 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The White House will review the Welch-Cummings legislation, and offer feedback sometime in the next few weeks, Welch said.
For weeks, Welch, a Democrat, has searched unsuccessfully for a Republican co-sponsor of the bill.
Trump appeared to be unfazed by the prospect of crossing party lines to endorse the legislation, Welch said.
“President Trump is crucial to this effort,” Welch said. “There’s been a wall of resistance on the Republican side.”
While political resistance in Washington has been fierce, the American public broadly supports Welch’s proposal. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 82 percent of Americans support price negotiation under Medicare.
Welch said Wednesday’s visit to the White House was his first since President Barack Obama left office. And while he said that many things have changed, there were a few remaining relics from the previous administration.
“In my visit, I was looking out for one thing: the painting of Rutland Falls in the waiting area,” Welch said. “I can happily report it was still there.”
