Hearings/Markups

Senate Special Committee on Aging: “Veteran Scams: Protecting Those Who Protected Us”
Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019: The Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing on protecting veterans from a variety of scams, including fake charities. As a result of the witness testimonies, a letter was sent to Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie by 13 of the committee’s 15 members asking for more protection of veterans from elder abuse scams. Find more details on the hearing here.

Senate

Durbin to Call for Vote on Drug Advertisement Price Disclosure Bill
On Nov. 6, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said he will soon request a floor vote on the Drug-Price Transparency in Communications Act (S. 1437) that requires that direct-to-consumer advertisement for drugs disclose their list prices. The bill is cosponsored by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Sen. Patrick Toomey (R-PA) has objected to the bill because he said other direct-to-consumer advertising for other products is not required to list prices.

Grassley Expected to File Drug Pricing Bill This Week
On Nov. 5, Senate Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley(R-IA) suggested that he would file an updated drug-pricing bill this week. The Senate Finance Committee has already passed the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act (S. 2543), by Sen. Grassley, and Senate Finance ranking member Ron Wyden (D-OR). The new version can be filed and bypass the committee process because an earlier version was already passed by the committee. Last week, Sen. Grassley defended the bill’s inflationary rebates on the Senate floor, a measure of the bill that Republicans do not approve. The Trump administration would prefer a version of the Senate Finance Committee bill over Speaker Pelosi’s plan, H.R. 3.

Peters Announces Investigation into Drug Shortages, High Drug Prices
On Nov. 5, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee ranking member Gary Peters (D-MI) announced an investigation of high drug prices and drug shortages, after a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) report that showed drug manufacturers need financial incentives to produce older, less profitable drugs. The report also concluded that the drug manufacturers need to be rewarded for implementing mature quality management systems in their manufacturing processes. Find the press release here.

Read more on healthcare policy on the McGuireWoods Consulting website.