Republicans Fought to Block Affordability Measures in Emergency Funding Package, Potentially Letting Drug Companies Gouge Price of Coronavirus Vaccine

Senate Republicans and Mitch McConnell were responsible this week for holding up and threatening the emergency coronavirus funding bill — because they want to leave the door open to drug manufacturers gouging the price of a coronavirus vaccine and treatments.

According to a report in POLITICO, “Republicans tried 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.” Those and other important pro-consumer vaccine affordability measures designed to protect millions of Americans were blocked from the final package because of “pushback from the drug industry and Republicans.”

“As this public health emergency escalated, it’s alarming that Mitch McConnell and Republicans in Washington were more preoccupied with helping their special interest donors than providing affordable vaccines and treatment to hardworking families as soon as possible,” said DSCC spokesperson Helen Kalla. “Senate Republicans already have records of voting to slash public health and disease prevention funding and standing in the way of meaningful prescription drug pricing reform — and as the deadly coronavirus spreads further, they owe their constituents real answers about why they refused to fight for a vaccine that’s accessible for all Americans.”

Read more about how Senate Republicans and Washington special interests worked to keep vaccine affordability out of the emergency coronavirus funding package:

Washington Post: The Health 202: A fight over vaccine affordability threatened the coronavirus spending package

• Partisan fights over ensuring a future coronavirus vaccine is affordable for Americans nearly derailed Washington’s newly struck deal to combat the coronavirus.

• Yet Democrats made vaccine affordability a flash point as lawmakers and aides worked around the clock to reach consensus on an $8.3 billion emergency spending bill that could reach President Trump’s desk by the end of the week.

• Democrats in the House and the Senate urged the administration last week to ensure any funding bill guarantees vaccines are affordable for those who need them. They seized on comments by HHS Secretary Alex Azar, who brought political fire on himself by refusing to guarantee that a vaccine would be affordable for everyone.

• “We would want to ensure that we work to make it affordable, but we can’t control that price because we need the private sector to invest,” Azar told the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “Price controls won’t get us there.”

POLITICO: House swiftly passes bipartisan $8.3B coronavirus package

• Vaccine affordability had been one of the biggest holdups to a final package. Democrats had pressed for significant funding to purchase large amounts of coronavirus diagnostics, treatments and vaccines when they become available, which would then be made available to the public free of cost, according to a senior Democratic aide.
  
• The aide claimed that Republicans tried 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.

POLITICO: 6 things to know about the coronavirus funding package

• Democrats were initially pushing for the inclusion of a provision that would allow HHS to take away a drug company’s intellectual property protection on a vaccine or medication if the price was deemed too high. Versions of the legislation circulating late last week including this language. But pushback from the drug industry and Republicans prompted lawmakers to strike the provision.

POLITICO: Coronavirus emergency bill stalled over vaccine cost concerns

Democrats are insisting the spending package include significant funding to purchase large amounts of coronavirus diagnostics.

• With the number of U.S. cases steadily rising, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is negotiating with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to find a deal that could pass both chambers this week…

• The biggest issue, according to several people familiar with negotiations, involves a Democratic attempt to control the costs of vaccines and other treatments that are developed in response to the outbreak.

• Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had complained earlier Tuesday that Republican lawmakers were resisting Democratic efforts to stave off potential price-gauging of vaccines or other products.

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