The Congressional Budget Office said Friday that a pending proposal by Senate Democrats to allow Medicare to negotiate directly with drug companies for lower prices would yield nearly $290 billion in savings and new revenue over ten years of implementation, a predictable yet crucial finding as lawmakers try to revitalize a legislative deal in the coming weeks.
The Democratic effort to revitalize a broader reconciliation package that could be passed in the narrowly-split Senate without Republican votes is considered the best that can be achieved after Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema tanked the much larger Build Back Better plan—one that included sweeping climate provisions and other social investments—last year.
Now, with Schumer negotiating directly with Manchin on the narrower package, the hopes of at least gaining the ability for Medicare to better control outrageous drug prices imposed on enrollees by pharmaceutical giants would be considered a win.
According to the CBO, which based its analysis on draft text released by the Senate Budget Committee, the legislation now under consideration "would result in a net decrease in the unified deficit totaling $287.6 billion over the 2022-2031 period. That decrease in the deficit would result from a decrease in direct spending of $249.2 billion and an increase in revenues of $38.4 billion.
