Washington Republicans are holding up the emergency coronavirus bill because they want to let drug manufacturers gouge the price of a coronavirus vaccine.
Politico reports that Republicans are fighting to eliminate a federal standard that stops drugmakers from making the drug affordable for working Americans.
An emergency funding bill to respond to coronavirus is being held up by a dispute about overpaying for tests, treatments and vaccines.
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Republicans are trying to eliminate the “fair and reasonable price” federal procurement standard for the vaccines and treatments that will be developed and purchased with the emergency funds. “Fair and reasonable price” is a basic standard to prevent price gouging in federal contracts. Without the language, drugmakers could charge the government above-market rates, meaning fewer Americans will have access, according to the Democratic aide.
As a reminder…Washington Republicans are also blocking bipartisan House-passed legislation to lower the cost of prescription drugs.
Statement from DCCC Spokesperson Robyn Patterson:
“The American people are demanding an affordable treatment for the coronavirus. It’s disturbing that Washington Republicans are more concerned about their drug manufacturer donors than they are about providing an affordable vaccine to working families. Washington Republicans are already blocking bipartisan House-passed legislation to bring down the cost of prescription drugs, it’s disgraceful that their obstruction extends to responding to a pandemic.”
Politico’s Story On Republicans Once Again Siding With Their Drug Manufacturer Allies
Coronavirus emergency bill held up over vaccine cost concerns
Democrats are insisting the spending package include significant funding to purchase large amounts of coronavirus diagnostics.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/03/coronavirus-emergency-bill-119729
An emergency funding bill to respond to coronavirus is being held up by a dispute about overpaying for tests, treatments and vaccines.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday said Republican lawmakers are resisting Democratic efforts to control costs of products that are developed in response to the outbreak.
“Our Republican friends don’t want to see the kinds of limitations that we want to see,” Schumer said after a briefing with members of the White House’s coronavirus task force, including Vice President Mike Pence and HHS Secretary Alex Azar.
The administration’s top scientists have said any coronavirus vaccine could be at least a year away from reaching the market. Moderna Therapeutics is working with National Institutes of Health on a vaccine while Johnson & Johnson has received funding from HHS’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.
Democrats are insisting the spending package include significant funding to purchase large amounts of coronavirus diagnostics, treatments and vaccine, when it becomes available, which would then be made available to the public free of cost, according to a senior Democratic aide.
Republicans are trying to eliminate the “fair and reasonable price” federal procurement standard for the vaccines and treatments that will be developed and purchased with the emergency funds. “Fair and reasonable price” is a basic standard to prevent price gouging in federal contracts. Without the language, drugmakers could charge the government above-market rates, meaning fewer Americans will have access, according to the Democratic aide.
Congressional leaders still want to pass an emergency package by the end of this week, with funding expected to be closer to the $8.5 billion Democrats suggested than the Trump administration’s $2.5 billion request, which critics from both parties had deemed not enough.
The bill would provide funding for masks, ventilators, community preparations and vaccine development, Schumer said. But it’s silent on how much vaccines developed with the government’s backing should cost.
“We are not going to say the companies after we taxpayers have paid for it, ‘now go out and make a huge profit.’ That’s not going to happen,” said Senate Appropriations ranking member Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).
Senate Democrats on Tuesday confronted Pence over the federal government’s response to the outbreak, even as leaders of both parties have quietly urged lawmakers to present a united front.
Multiple Democrats said Pence and the task force did not have enough answers on testing kits, costs of care and what will happen to people who do not have insurance.
Lawmakers including Democratic Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell of Washington, where nine deaths have been confirmed, challenged Pence during the hourlong meeting, which became contentious at times, according to attendees.
“The failure to develop and distribute working test kits to public health agencies has really cost us valuable time,” Murray said afterward. “I’m hearing from people personally across our state who are frustrated. They believe they have been exposed, they are sick, they want to get tested — but they have nowhere to go.”
Roughly $900 million in the bill would go toward purchasing equipment including masks and ventilators. Murray said that officials told senators they had stockpiled masks, but that there were not enough.
Separately, health insurers want assurances the government will help pay the cost of widespread testing or expensive treatment.
Pence, who President Donald Trump designated the lead on the virus response last week, has been making the rounds on Capitol Hill Tuesday as the Trump administration tried to move past a raucous few days of partisan finger-pointing.
Earlier on Tuesday, Pence hosted a group of House members who belong to the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus in the White House situation room. His message, according to several attendees, was to avoid political bickering as the U.S. grapples with a health crisis with a scale that remains unknown.
Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.) laid out concerns with the administration’s outreach, including mixed messaging from Trump himself and various health agencies, according to multiple people in the room.
Murphy, whose home city of Orlando includes Disney World, pressed Pence on which source of information should be trusted. Pence instructed her to refer to the CDC’s website.
Another Democrat, Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, challenged information the administration has presented about the risk of transmission. He later said he urged the administration to be as transparent and “as conservative” as possible.”