House passes Pelosi's drug pricing bill, with a few changes

The House of Representatives passed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's signature drug pricing bill Dec. 12, according to CNBC

The bill passed 230 to 192, with two Republicans voting in favor of it. 

It still has a low chance of becoming law, as U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said he will block it and President Donald Trump has reportedly said he would veto the legislation if it passes in  the Senate.

A final estimate from the Congressional Budget Office predicted the bill would save Medicare $456 over the course of a decade, but prevent eight new drugs from coming to the market. 

Before it passed in the House, Ms. Pelosi's bill saw a few changes from previous versions, including that the minimum number of drugs the HHS Secretary could  negotiate per year went up from 35 to 50. Another change was including a policy that would refund money to employer-sponsored insurance plans if drugmakers raise their prices faster than inflation, according to STAT

The changes were made to please liberal Democrats, who threatened to vote against the bill because they didn't think it went far enough to lower costs. 

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