Key House panel proposes lowering out-of-pocket drug costs in Medicare

WASHINGTON — A key House committee announced its own plans to increase health care transparency and reduce some health care costs for patients on Monday, according to bill text obtained by STAT.

The House Ways & Means Committee package includes a new provision that would ensure that patients in the Medicare program pay for medicines they pick up at the pharmacy counter based on the discounted price that insurers negotiate with drugmakers, instead of higher sticker prices, starting in 2027.

The protection hasn’t been proposed in any other legislation considered by health care committees in Congress.

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