Biden to ask Congress to pass prescription drug price legislation

By Teddy Grant Published: April 28, 2021

Biden to ask Congress to pass prescription drug price legislation

FILE - In this April 21, 2021, file photo, President Joe Biden speaks about COVID-19 vaccinations at the White House, in Washington. Biden spent his first 100 days encouraging Americans to mask up and stay home to slow the spread of COVID-19. His task for the next 100 will be to encourage the opposite behavior and manage the nation’s transition back to normalcy. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

President Joe Biden will ask Congress on Wednesday to pass a bill that would give the federal government authority to negotiate prescription drug prices.

In his first joint session of Congress, the president will unveil his broad economic agenda and request that Congress passes legislation this year, a White House official told HuffPost.

Democrats have pressed the Biden administration to address the rise in prescription drug pricing costs.

A quarter of Americans said they have trouble paying prescription drug prices, according to a 2019 poll from Kaiser Family Foundation.

More than three in five African Americans said that prescription drug prices are unreasonably priced, according to a 2019 survey from AARP. Around 46% said they did not fill out a prescription by their doctors because of drug prices.

Drug companies are against any plan that would give the federal government more authority over prices despite it being a popular idea amongst Americans, according to polling data.

Companies fear that the federal government having more control over pricing would stifle innovation that leads to breakthrough treatments on diseases such as cancer or COVID-19, HuffPost reported.

Biden is also expected to provide more details for his plan to provide $1.8 trillion in federal funding for education, child care and paid family leave.