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Opinion: H.R. 3 is the wrong path to lower drug costs

Adopting H.R. 3 to lower drug costs would be a pyrrhic victory. While it could reduce some drug prices for some people, in the long run it would reduce the…
From left, Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) speaks as Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) look on during a news conference discussing H.R. 3 on Capitol Hill in October.

Americans want health care to be less expensive. We also want our health care to be the most innovative in the world. The key to simultaneously achieving both of these goals is good public policy.

Back in September, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) introduced H.R. 3, also known as the Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019, into the House of Representatives with 105 co-sponsors, all Democrats. The House is set to vote on the bill this week.

H.R. 3 for the Medicare program in an effort to lower drug costs. In other words, it would impose foreign price controls on the U.S. market. This would indeed reduce prices, but at what cost to innovation?

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