WASHINGTON — Millions of patients in the Medicare program could eventually see lower prescription drug costs if Democrats pass their latest drug pricing plan into law.
The plan, which cleared a major hurdle Sunday when the Senate very narrowly approved it, has four major policies — it would allow Medicare to negotiate prices for some costly drugs, penalize drugmakers for hiking prices faster than inflation, redesign Medicare’s prescription drug benefit and cap annual costs at $2,000, and cap Medicare patients’ insulin costs at $35 per month.