Sen. John Cornyn. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
Sen. John Cornyn said he's confident that a bipartisan drug pricing patent bill he cosponsored will pass in the lame duck session, despite a holdup in the House this week.
Why it matters: The measure with Sen. Richard Blumenthal would address high drug prices by cracking down on "patent thickets" that brand-name manufacturers can use to delay competition from cheaper generics, and could be an attractive payfor for a prospective year-end health package.
What they're saying: "It saves about $1 billion, and so my understanding is people are looking at that billion dollars and wondering who gets to spend it," Cornyn told Axios on Tuesday. "So I think that's what's slowing it down a little bit, but I'm pretty optimistic it will pass."
The big picture: We wrote Monday that the bill was left off the House suspension calendar for this week.
- But a lame duck health package with plenty of extenders for expiring health programs, which will need to be paid for, could provide a convenient must-pass vehicle.
