Lawmakers who hoped to address price transparency and lower drug costs are instead negotiating a smaller health care package after talks broke down again amid a broader stalemate over government funding.
They are now working on a pared-down deal that could exclude the vast majority of health proposals previously in the works, including legislation to codify and strengthen price transparency rules, crack down on practices of pharmacy benefit managers and restrict some billing for off-campus hospital clinics.
The smaller bill is now likely to focus on a package of extender policies, according to multiple lobbyists, along with potential funding for community health centers, partial offsets to scheduled Medicare cuts for physicians, and a delay in scheduled cuts to hospitals that serve a higher portion of low-income patients.
