Prescription Drugs

Illustration: Natalie Peeples / Axios Sens. Peter Welch and Josh Hawley are teaming up to introduce a bill this week seeking to lower drug prices by cracking down on "patent thickets." Why it matters: The unusual pairing of lawmakers shows there's bipartisan support for overhauling the…

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) today joined Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and U.S. Representative Debbie Dingell (D-MI-06) in introducing the End Price Gouging for Medications Act. The bicameral bill would lower prescription drug costs for all Americans and…

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today, U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) pressed Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) on how their anti-competitive practices have raised costs for Vermont patients by undermining competition in the prescription drug supply chain. Senator Welch also discussed how…

A bipartisan pair of senators introduced legislation to lower prescription drug prices by prohibiting pharmaceutical companies from selling drugs in the U.S. at higher prices than the international average.  The bill from Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) is a riff on the “most favored nation” policy…

WASHINGTON, D.C. —Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced a slate of bipartisan bills to lower the cost of prescription drugs, including several sponsored by Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.).   “We’re facing an affordability crisis right now, and the cost of health care and prescription drugs is…