New Legislation Introduced that Would Rein in Prescription Drug Prices

From Families USA (http://www.familiesusa.org):

This week Democratic House Leadership released their long-awaited legislation, H.R.3, to rein in prescription drug prices. This legislation would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices and otherwise hold drug companies accountable for outrageous prices.

For far too long, rising drug costs have forced consumers to make drastic choices between their health care and basic needs. It should not be commonplace for individuals to weigh paying for life-saving medication or their mortgage. Nearly one in three consumers facing increased drug costs spend less on groceries to account for the increase.

H.R. 3 has several promising provisions that aim to directly address the price of prescription drugs and hold drug companies accountable. While we have identified opportunities to improve the bill and plan to work with committees during the legislative process to continue to strengthen the bill, we strongly support its passage. Lawmakers have made a promise to address families’ concerns about high drug prices and this bill shows that House Democratic Leadership wants to keep that promise.

President Trump also has made many promises to address prescription drug costs. So far, he’s done very little. Here’s his opportunity. America’s families are waiting and watching to see if he will deliver on his promises and work with Congress to ensure this legislation passes the House and Senate so that he can sign it into law.

In negotiating the price of high-cost drugs, this bill will produce significant budget savings for the federal government. We are pleased that the bill sponsors intend to use these savings to improve Medicare coverage. In particular, we support expanding Medicare to cover oral, vision and hearing services as well as improving benefits for low-income beneficiaries.

Most importantly, this bill represents what consumers want—for the government to take action so they can afford their medicine, and not have to bankrupt themselves in the process. Recent polling has shown that 95 percent support Medicare drug negotiation for drugs with no competition and 78 percent said that Medicare drug negotiation would reduce the price of drugs.

In the coming days Families USA will produce further analysis of this important legislation as we work to support its passage and improvement.