美国国家公共电台 NPR--Democrats may make some progress toward lowering high drug prices

Democrats² may make some progress toward lowering high drug prices

Transcript³

The cost of prescription⁴ drugs have been a political issue for years. If Congress passes the Reduce Inflation Act, a provision would allow Medicare, for the first time, to negotiate drug prices.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

High prescription drug prices have been a hot political talking point for years. Democrats now may be making some progress on that, thanks to a Senate compromise negotiated by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and West Virginia Democrat¹ Joe Manchin. Arizona Democrat Kyrsten Sinema has yet to say whether she'll vote for the Reduce Inflation Act. But if it wins her approval, the legislation would pass the Senate and then the House. NPR pharmaceuticals⁵ correspondent Sydney Lupkin has been looking into the provisions of the bill and why it's getting so much attention.

SYDNEY LUPKIN, BYLINE⁶: The big thing everyone is talking about is Medicare drug price negotiation⁷. Officially, Medicare had been barred from directly negotiating drug prices. But starting in 2026, assuming this bill becomes law, Medicare can negotiate 10 drug prices. And then in 2027, it can negotiate 15, and by 2029, it can negotiate 20. Though we don't know specifically which drugs just yet.

FADEL: OK. So it's not that Medicare would be able to negotiate all drug prices, right?

LUPKIN: That's right. So these are only high-cost drugs that are covered under Medicare Parts D or B, meaning they're retail⁸ prescription drugs or administered by a physician. And they have to have been on the market for a while to be eligible⁹ for negotiation. For some drugs, it's nine years, and for others, it's 13. And again, we still don't know which drugs they'll choose, but the bill is still progress on drug prices that we really haven't seen in years. Here's Stacie Dusetzina of Vanderbilt University.

STACIE DUSETZINA: You know, it really does break a lot of new ground and fix a lot of problems that we either identified or created by accident over the years. And so I think from a how big of a deal is this, it's a huge deal.

FADEL: OK. So what else does the bill do?

LUPKIN: Well, it makes drug manufacturers pay a rebate¹⁰ if they increase prices above inflation. It would also make vaccines¹¹ free for Medicare beneficiaries. That would start next year. And it would do a few more things, like capping out-of-pocket prescription drug spending at $2,000. So that's not going to affect everybody, but it's going to wind up being a big help for seniors who need high price, specialty¹² drugs for things like rheumatoid arthritis¹³ or cancer. So on top of helping¹⁴ seniors, all told, the reforms would save the government around $288 billion over the next 10 years. That's according to the Congressional Budget Office, which looked at an earlier version of the bill.

FADEL: OK. So this all sounds pretty good. What do the drugmakers say about it?

LUPKIN: They do not like it. The head of the trade group for branded drugs, PhRMA, called it a historic mistake last week. The general argument here is that the bill would stifle¹⁵ innovation and mean fewer new drugs will get developed and make it to consumers. Tricia Neuman of the Kaiser Family Foundation says those fears are overblown.

TRICIA NEUMAN: PhRMA has been making the case that the legislation will decimate research and development and it will mean cures for cancer will not come to market. You know, that's certainly scary. We all want cures for cancer. We all want cures for Alzheimer's disease. But the truth is, CBO is predicting it will have a very modest impact.

LUPKIN: So in this case, the Congressional Budget Office says about 15 drugs won't make it to market over the next 30 years as a result of the bill. But that's out of 1,300 drugs. So most drugs will still make it to market.

FADEL: That was Sydney Lupkin, NPR's pharmaceuticals correspondent. Thanks, Sydney.

LUPKIN: You bet.

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

5 pharmaceuticals   

n.医药品；药物( pharmaceutical的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the development of new pharmaceuticals 新药的开发
• The companies are pouring trillions of yen into biotechnology research,especially for pharmaceuticals and new seeds. 这些公司将大量资金投入生物工艺学研究，尤其是药品和新种子方面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

8 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

9 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

10 rebate   

v./n.折扣，回扣，退款；vt.给...回扣，给...打折扣

参考例句：

• You can claim a rebate on your tax.你可以要求退回部分税款。
• Customers are to benefit from a rebate on their electricity bills.顾客将从他们的电费退费中得到实惠。

11 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

12 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

13 arthritis   

n.关节炎

参考例句：

• Rheumatoid arthritis has also been linked with the virus.风湿性关节炎也与这种病毒有关。
• He spent three months in the hospital with acute rheumatic arthritis.他患急性风湿性关节炎，在医院住了三个月。

14 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

15 stifle   

vt.使窒息；闷死；扼杀；抑止，阻止

参考例句：

• She tried hard to stifle her laughter.她强忍住笑。
• It was an uninteresting conversation and I had to stifle a yawn.那是一次枯燥无味的交谈，我不得不强忍住自己的呵欠。