With Millions from Big Pharma, Sen. Menendez Opposes Drug Pricing Bill

By Igor Derysh, Salon

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., one of the top recipients of campaign contributions from the pharmaceutical industry, said last week that he won’t support a House plan to allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug costs as part of President Biden’s Build Back Better plan.

Menendez told NBC News’ Sahil Kapur last week that he is a “no” on H.R. 3, a longtime Democratic priority that was advanced earlier this year by the House Ways and Means Committee. The bill would save $456 billion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office, which Democrats hope to use to pay for other priorities in the bill like expanding Medicare coverage and health care access.

Menendez told Salon on Friday that the House bill “does not currently have a pathway to pass the House of Representatives,” where Democrats hold a razor-thin majority. He did not rule out supporting legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices and is waiting to see the plan being drafted by Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who announced that he was working on a compromise solution earlier this year amid pushback from lawmakers in states with a heavy pharmaceutical industry presence. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, told Politico that the legislation had already been “eviscerated” in negotiations under pressure from Big Pharma-aligned Democrats.