Budget reconciliation is an optional, special procedure outlined in the Congressional Budget Act (CBA) to expedite the consideration of a narrow category of spending and tax legislation.
In anticipation of the 119th Congress and expected activity leveraging the federal budget reconciliation process to advance drug pricing and supply chain reforms, Manatt analyzed 40 individual pieces of legislation encompassing a range of drug pricing and supply chain policy proposals from the 118th Congress to assess which of these might be eligible for enactment through the budget reconciliation process. Of the 40 pieces of legislation reviewed, only 12 of these bills (consisting of nine policies) appear to be appropriate for reconciliation at this time.
Click here to view the table which also describes the policies and relevant legislation, a CBO estimate (if one exists), the health insurance markets to which these policies would apply, and our assessment of whether these are appropriate for reconciliation.1
1 A three-fifths majority (60 votes) can waive a point of order against a provision under the Byrd rule and permit it to proceed. Too many provisions that waive the Byrd rule can jeopardize the privileged protections of the reconciliation bill altogether (also known as “fatal” to privilege). However, “too many” is subjective and based on the assessment of the Parliamentarian.