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Top Democratic lawmakers said Thursday that the House in the coming days will pass their signature bill that aims to lower drug prices, as they made an effort to show that they’re not solely focused on impeaching President Donald Trump.
“Next week, the House of Representatives will pass the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act,” said a statement from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders.
Pelosi talked up the drug-pricing bill and other legislation during a news conference that she held about two hours after she announced that House Democrats would proceed with drafting articles of impeachment against Trump. She attacked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican who has described himself as the “Grim Reaper” for blocking Democratic legislation.
“The Grim Reaper says all we’re doing is impeachment. No, we have 275 bipartisan bills on your desk,” Pelosi said.
Related: Pelosi says she’s asking top Democrats to proceed with drafting articles of impeachment
Capital Alpha Partners analyst Kim Monk — who said three months ago that there’s no chance Pelosi’s bill will become law — wrote in a recent note that substantial drug-pricing reforms continue to appear “unlikely” in the near term.
Analysts have been predicting that a divided Washington won’t make major progress in 2019 on reining in rising drug prices or other bipartisan issues, and the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry has helped reinforce those predictions.
See: Pelosi’s impeachment inquiry into Trump could derail her drug-pricing bill
The lack of progress on dealing with rising drug costs may have encouraged investors to buy drugmakers’ stocks. The Invesco Dynamic Pharmaceuticals ETF PJP, -0.69% was down modestly Thursday, but it has gained about 13% in the past two months, while the broad S&P 500 index SPX, +0.00% has tacked on just 5% in the same period. The pharma ETF is now up 1% in 2019, still far behind the S&P’s year-to-date climb of 24%.
Some analysts have said that if Pelosi’s bill somehow were to become law, it would undermine pharmaceutical industry profits, while other measures wouldn’t hurt nearly as much.
A bipartisan bill from the Senate Finance Committee’s highest-ranking members would have a “negligible” impact on the industry, affecting about 2% of drug sales and representing a “a positive outcome for the industry,” said Bernstein analysts in a recent note.
A Trump administration plan tied to an International Pricing Index (IPI) would hit about 3% of sales and significantly affect a few companies, but have “very modest effects” on most companies, the analysts added.
“The Pelosi plan is more of the ‘nuclear winter,’ as it will apply to the entire U.S. market (not just government programs) and applies both IPI and large rebates” the Bernstein team wrote.
Washington is focused on drug prices after health care ranked as the most important issue for voters in the 2018 midterm election. Amid the increased attention and range of measures aimed at prices, drugmakers have ramped up their lobbying spending to levels last seen a decade ago.
