Becerra Testimony Hints At Hard Line on Drug Prices, Medicare Advantage Payments

As policymakers consider proposals to revamp Medicare Part D, HHS secretary nominee and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) during his Senate confirmation hearings last week vowed to make reducing the cost of prescription drugs a priority — although details on such a plan were scant. Meanwhile, his comments around ensuring a “level playing field” between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage could have implications for MA plan reimbursement.

During a Feb. 23 Senate Health Committee hearing, Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was one of several senators who queried Becerra about drug pricing and asked him for “more specificity as to how we take on the drug companies and lower drug costs.” Becerra’s response, which did not appear to satisfy a skeptical Sanders, was that he would “deal with it swiftly” and that the government must take on drugmakers “by trying to go behind the curtain” to determine how they reach their prices.

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