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Making Prescription Drugs Affordable

Dear Neighbor,

Drug prices are skyrocketing. 94 percent of popular brand name drugs doubled in price between 2005 and 2017, and out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries doubled from 2011 to 2015. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation Poll found that 1 in 4 Americans have a difficult time affording their prescription drugs, and 1 in 5 Americans have not filled a prescription because of high prices.

The status quo for prescription drugs is crushing family budgets, failing consumers, and endangering lives. Americans are sick of paying hundreds and thousands of dollars more than citizens of countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland, and Spain, for the same exact drugs. They want to know why drugs that have been around for decades suddenly have massive price tags driven by price gouging activities. And they want to know why they are paying thousands of dollars for drugs that were developed using their tax dollars.

My constituents, facing increased out-of-pocket costs at every turn for their medications, cannot afford to wait to address this crisis. Nor should they.

In passing the Affordable Care Act, Democrats not only expanded access to affordable insurance to millions of Americans and protected individuals with pre-existing conditions, we also took steps to lower prescription drug costs by closing the Medicare donut hole. That has saved seniors an average of $2,272 on annual drug costs.

The new House majority is committed to building on that progress and has been working to reduce the burden drug costs are imposing on consumers and the broader health care system.

Last week, we passed H.R. 987, the Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act. This legislation would make it illegal for prescription drug manufacturers to use a practice known as “pay-for-delay,” in which brand name drug companies pay generic manufactures to delay bringing cheaper drugs to market. It also removes a tactic some drug manufactures have exploited to block access to generic drugs. According to AARP, “This legislation is an important step towards lowering prescription drug costs and protecting the health care of millions of Americans who get their coverage through the individual market.”

As Chairman of the House Government Operations subcommittee, I will never stop looking for ways to improve the Affordable Care Act and lower prescription drug costs, including holding bad actors in the prescription drug industry accountable.

Sincerely,
Gerald E. Connolly
Member of Congress
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