WASHINGTON — South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg on Monday unveiled a sweeping plan aimed at lowering prescription drug prices — and though he’s one of the most moderate Democrats in the 2020 presidential race, the plan is anything but.
Buttigieg’s proposal includes a number of drug pricing ideas once seen as radical, including a policy change that would force pharmaceutical manufacturers to forfeit as much as 95% of a drug’s revenue if the company refuses to negotiate prices. “Worst offender” drug companies could also forfeit their patent rights.
“It’s time for a new era of leadership in Washington ready and eager to make drugs affordable and take on pharmaceutical companies,” states a policy paper that the Buttigieg campaign shared with STAT. “Pete has the courage to break with the status quo by focusing on real solutions that will lower costs and make needed—even life-saving—prescription drugs available to all Americans.”
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