WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans reportedly are considering creating a “piggy bank” to store savings from repealing Obamacare to pay for a replacement plan — and, if they do, that would be good news for the drug industry.
As STAT previously reported, the biggest risk for drug makers in the repeal-and-replace debate is probably “offsets,” spending cuts designed to help the GOP pay for its own health care plan down the line.
But if Congress instead uses a budgetary mechanism to keep the savings of Obamacare repeal in escrow — the “piggy bank” — to pay for their replacement at a later date, that likely lessens the need for a separate set of cuts that could target pharma.
