Last week, the House of Representatives passed the slimmed-down government funding legislation without PBM reform. On Friday, the Senate took up consideration of the funding bill. Senate Democrats threatened to shut down the government, attempting to negotiate potential amendments as well as introducing their own legislation that would fund the government for one month, giving time for additional negotiations regarding President Donald Trump’s spending power. Ultimately, they were unsuccessful. Friday evening, the Senate passed the slimmed-down bill, keeping the government funded, by a vote of 54-46.
While negotiations were occurring, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) attempted to pass the health care package agreed to in December, which included PBM reform, by unanimous consent, but Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) raised an objection, causing the effort to fail.
