Some things never change — like the left wanting control over the health care system. A recent lawsuit demonstrated this fact, and it may lead to a Supreme Court smackdown.
On Tuesday, the pharmaceutical manufacturer Merck filed the first of what could be many lawsuits against the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding the drug “negotiation” provisions included in last year’s Inflation (Reduction) Act. CMS is scheduled to release the names of the first tranche of drugs involved in the process on Sept. 1. Merck seeks to short-circuit the process before it begins.
Complaint Alleges Coercion
The Merck lawsuit calls the drug provisions unconstitutional on two fronts. First, the claim alleges the “negotiation” regime amounts to little more than “political Kabuki theater,” in which private companies have no alternative but to agree to the prices government bureaucrats set. Because the process forces manufacturers to accept the government’s offer, CMS is effectively violating the Fifth Amendment, which prohibits the taking of private property “for public use without just compensation.”
Second, the lawsuit alleges that the “negotiation” process violates the First Amendment. By making the process secret from the public, and by forcing companies to “agree” to the government’s price offers, the law compels private speech — a violation of the company’s constitutional rights.
As a matter of policy, the statements in Merck’s complaint are undoubtedly correct. Democrats have known for nearly two decades that drug “negotiation” would not save any additional money — the Congressional Budget Office said as
