WASHINGTON, DC – As reported by The Washington Post, House Democrats are playing politics by combining bipartisan bills to lower drug costs with partisan bills to bail out Obamacare.

Republicans and Democrats had been working together on provisions to bring generic drugs to market faster by incentivizing more competition among generic manufacturers to ensure patients get the earliest possible access to more affordable prescription drugs. Now, instead of delivering a victory for the American people, Democrats have chosen to spike this opportunity to lower drug prices.

The Washington Post: The Health 202: Democrats are putting a political pothole in the way of bipartisan drug pricing bills

The House will vote tomorrow on a package aimed at lowering prescription drug prices — one of the few health-care issues getting across-the-aisle momentum this year, due to overwhelming public support. But in a move that alienates Republicans, Democrats have tacked on measures reversing some of the Trump administration’s controversial actions on the 2010 health-care law.

The package includes three provisions, all recently passed unanimously by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, that would remove barriers to generic drugs entering the market. But there’s little chance Senate Republicans — let alone President Trump, who has vowed to keep fighting for Obamacare repeal — would sign off on the other four. Those measures restore ACA outreach funding cut by the administration, block its expansion of leaner health plans and fund state-run marketplaces.

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Republicans even tried to advance their own alternative that would instead use the savings for extending funds for community health centers, the National Health Service Corps and other public health programs. They’re dubbing the Democrats’ bill the “Obamacare Bailout Act of 2019.”

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