Advocates frustrated over pace of drug price reform | TheHill

And advocates worry that the approaching 2020 election will narrow the timeframe for bipartisan work as well.Allen said that some smaller measures from drug pricing bills could end up getting pulled into end-of-year budget negotiations to offset other costs.“Under that scenario, a larger package of reforms likely struggles, and the easier go-to items where there’s long been consensus end up being what is able to go through,” she said.Publicly groups are urging lawmakers to press on.“There is unprecedented momentum to hold Big Pharma accountable with market-based solutions to crack down on the industry’s anti-competitive practices and price-gouging,” said Jon Conradi, a spokesman for Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP), a coalition of health care professionals and hospitals.He said lawmakers should not let the moment pass "With so many Americans demanding action and rare bipartisan consensus, Congress simply can’t squander this opportunity to deliver lower prescription drug prices,” said Conradi.Lobbyists worry that the lack of consensus in Congress could lead to scaled-back legislation that just tackles low-hanging fruit instead of broader changes.“Ultimately, each side will have to compromise on some of their priorities,” Emily Felder, senior policy advisor and counsel at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, told The HillMichael Werner, co-head of Holland & Knight's Health & Life Sciences Group, pointed to the support on both sides of the aisle for getting more generic drugs on the market.“I think for a lot of Republicans, they’re more comfortable with that than they would be with we’re going to directly regulate the price of a drug.