Grassley Predicts Drug Price Bill by May 20

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) has predicted that his bipartisan Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act of 2019 will pass by 5/20. The Daily Iowan reports that Grassley addressed a healthcare summit in Coralville, IA, 2/14 and predicted the 5/20 passage.

“The reason that’s an important date is because right before Christmas, there were a lot of healthcare programs that sunset, so they have to be extended,” he told the newspaper. “Usually we’d extend them for a year or two, but we extended them just to the middle of this year so we’d have a vehicle to move prescription drugs.”

Set to expire 5/22 are programs including funding for measuring Medicare and Medicaid quality and funding for community mental health.

The senator told the newspaper that to get his bill approved he is negotiating with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, seeking more support from Republican senators, and getting an endorsement from President Trump.