House Democratic Health Leaders Ask Comptroller General to Monitor Implementation of Medicare Drug Price Negotiation
Scott, Pallone, and Neal Request Government Watchdog Ensure Trump Administration Follows the Law and Negotiates Lower Prescription Drug Prices for Seniors
WASHINGTON – Education and Workforce Committee Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA), Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), and Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard E. Neal (D-MA) wrote to the Comptroller General today requesting the Government Accountability Office (GAO) actively monitor the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program to ensure the Trump Administration upholds its legal obligation to deliver lower prescription drug prices for Americans.
“As the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program continues, new expertise will be developed and honed to improve the processes for successful negotiations in the future,” the Democratic Committee leaders wrote. “To build on this important work, we ask that GAO examine the ongoing implementation of the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program to ensure that it further reduces prescription drug prices, saves seniors money, and drives down federal spending.”
The Democrats’ letter follows alarming testimony last week by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., President Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, declining to commit to faithfully implement the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program.
The Inflation Reduction Act directed the Comptroller General to conduct oversight of the law, including the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. GAO has previously reviewed the program, including the first ten drugs selected for price negotiation.
Scott, Pallone, and Neal authored H.R.3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, which first passed the House in December 2019 and established the Medicare drug price negotiation framework that was eventually signed into law in August 2022 as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. In 2023, Scott, Pallone, and Neal introduced legislation to build on this progress by negotiating more drug prices sooner, making these lower prices available to people with private health insurance, and extending inflation rebates to the commercial market.
To read the full letter to the Comptroller General, click here.
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