Sen. Chuck Grassley, the new chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, told reporters yesterday he has three top priorities on drug pricing.
He's targeting a bill to ban "pay for delay" settlements between brand-name and generic drug companies; the CREATES Act, which would give generics easier access to the product samples they need to develop their drugs; and a bill to let Americans import cheaper drugs from Canada.
Between the lines: Grassley isn’t quite as pharma-friendly as the committee’s last chairman, former Sen. Orrin Hatch. The industry opposes all three of those measures.
Democrats, meanwhile, are all about Trump’s European-pricing plan. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will introduce a similar proposal today, alongside a bill to allow drug importation and another to let Medicare negotiate directly for the cost of prescription drugs, rather than relying on third parties.
Go deeper: The drug pricing maze
