House Committee Revises FAIR Drug Pricing Bill

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce voted in favor of amending the FAIR Drug Pricing Act of 2019, a bill that would require drug manufacturers to justify price increases to HHS.

The amended bill would require “robust reporting” from drugmakers when they raise the price of a drug more than ten percent in one year or 25 percent in three consecutive years. The revisions include changes to HHS reporting requirements and the reporting timeline for companies that manufacture qualifying drugs in 2019.

Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.) called the amendment “a strong bipartisan compromise” and said it would “ensure consumers have access to more information about how prescription drugs are priced and why drug prices are increasing.”

The bill (H.R. 2296), introduced by Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D-Ill.) in April, requires drugmakers to submit reports to HHS no later than 30 days prior to increasing the price of a non-rare disease, non-vaccine drug that costs $100 or more per month or course of treatment.