Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse pressed for action from President Obama to help bring down the soaring cost of prescription drugs for people in Rhode Island and across the country.
In a letter sent today, Reed, Whitehouse, and a group of lawmakers called on the President to include in his 2017 budget proposal measures to help address prescription drug prices and cut health care costs.
“Prescription drug prices are soaring in the United States, driving up costs in federal healthcare programs and households alike,” wrote Reed and Whitehouse, along with Sens. Al Franken (D-MN), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tom Udall (D-NM), Angus King (I-ME), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). “As a result, patients are left with the unimaginable choice of foregoing life-saving care or depleting family savings. These patients deserve better.”
The lawmakers urged the President, as he lays out his funding priorities for 2017, to do several things to address this growing problem—allow the government to negotiate prices with drug manufacturers, promote competition in the generic drug market, prevent price gouging, and outlaw “pay for delay,” which is a practice where brand drug companies pay generic drug companies to stay out of the market.
In addition, the Senators called on the President to implement Medicare policies that will reimburse based on value instead of volume, meaning that drug companies will get paid for their performance in treating people.
You can read a full copy of the Senators’ letter by clicking here.
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