Trump, Democratic leaders to meet on drug prices soon - White House

U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with congressional Democratic leaders soon to discuss drug prices, the White House said on Tuesday following infrastructure talks with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.

The White House said in a statement that the three agreed to meet "in the near future" over the health issue and that Trump "feels there is a long way to go" to lower drug costs, but it gave no other details.

The Trump administration made lower medication prices a top issue in his presidential campaign but has yet to unveil any detailed plan since taking office in January 2017 .

House Democrats, who took over the U.S. House of Representatives this year following election gains due in part to their vows to protect healthcare, have launched an investigation into pharmaceutical industry pricing practices and held hearings on the issue.

The Republican-led U.S. Senate has also held hearings on the issue. Any legislative effort to rein in pharmaceutical costs would have to pass both chambers and win Trump`s support to become law.

Some pharmaceutical companies previously had lowered their prices voluntarily after Trump called out the industry. However, nearly 30 drugmakers have moved to end their self-declared halt to price increases.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)