Debating the fate of innovation

No one believes that H.R. 3, the Democratic House leadership’s drug pricing bill, will be enacted into law, but that hasn’t stopped it from precipitating frenzied debates. The bill has become a strawman for advocates and opponents of government-imposed price controls, a testbed for arguments that will be presented to voters next November.

The mechanics of how the Lower Drug Costs Now Act would set drug prices are less important than the competing arguments about the effects of price controls on innovation, access and public health. ...