Reducing drug prices
The Democratic House’s other big recent health bill was an effort to lower the prices of certain expensive prescription drugs. Lowering drug prices has been a Democratic policy priority for many years, and one that Mr. Biden endorses, at least in general. President Trump has championed legislation on drug prices as well, as has Mr. Grassley, but many Republican lawmakers dislike the proposals, and the current Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, has never allowed such a bill on the floor.
Experts thought that certain drug pricing controls might be possible with reconciliation, since they have clear budgetary effects. But the politics of passage could be difficult with narrow majorities in both the House and Senate and such strong opposition from the drug industry.
A public option
President-elect Biden included a public health insurance option, available to all Americans, in his 2020 campaign platform. The slim majority in the Senate, however, may make it hard to move this type of plan forward.
Even if there were unanimous support among Democratic senators, the public option isn’t a policy that fits neatly into reconciliation’s rigid rules. Congressional procedure experts say it would need to include nonbudgetary policies, such as defining a package of benefits, that would require a more conventional legislative process.
And unanimity among 50 Democratic senators may be a big political challenge in any case. When Congress last debated the public option in 2010, it split the Democratic caucus and couldn’t garner enough support to pass.
“The way the public option saves money is by paying providers less,” said Cynthia Cox, a vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation. “Right now, providers are a pretty sympathetic group with the pandemic. I think there would be a lot of opposition from hospitals and doctors.”
Medicare for all
A Medicare for all health plan, long championed by Senator Bernie Sanders, would end private health insurance and move all Americans into a generous government-run insurance plan. Democratic primary contenders split on this policy, with President-elect Biden opposing such an approach.