House panel rejects Medicare drug pricing plan in setback to Biden’s agenda

WASHINGTON » A House committee dealt an ominous if symbolic blow Wednesday to President Joe Biden’s huge social and environment package, derailing a money-saving plan to let Medicare negotiate the price it pays for prescription drugs.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee vote to drop the proposal from its piece of Biden’s signature 10-year, $3.5 trillion spending plan was not a fatal blow. The separate House Ways and Means Committee kept it alive by approving nearly identical drug-pricing language.

Even so, the provision’s rejection by one committee underscores the clout that moderates looking to curb new spending — or any small group of Democrats — have as Biden and party leaders try pushing the entire package through the narrowly divided Congress.

Facing unanimous Republican opposition, Democrats will be able to lose just three House votes and none in the 50-50 Senate to send the overall measure to Biden. That’s a precarious margin for what will be an enormous bill laced with numerous politically sensitive initiatives and spending and taxes.

The committees’ votes on pharmaceutical drugs came as Biden was holding face-to-face meetings with two moderate Democratic senators who have said the overall size of the $3.5 trillion proposal is too big. The sessions with Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia underscored a stepped-up White House drive to avoid Democratic defections.

The Energy and Commerce vote on the drugpricing language was 29-29, with three moderate Democrats joining Republicans to oppose it: Reps. Scott Peters of California, Kathleen Rice of New York and Kurt Schrader of Oregon. Tie votes in Congress are usually insufficient to keep legislative provisions alive.

Democrats are counting on the drug-pricing provisions to pay for a modest but significant part of their $3.5 trillion plan to bolster the safety net, address climate change and fund other programs. Proponents say it could save $600 billion over the coming decade.

The legislation would authorize Medicare to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies, using lower prices paid in other economically advanced countries as a yardstick. The savings produced would be used to expand Medicare coverage by adding dental, vision and hearing benefits.