Most Americans Want Drug Prices Lowered-- But The Republicans Just Will Not Permit It

Bernie has been advocating cutting prescription drug prices in half for decades. His Medicare-for-All proposal would do that. Ge wrote in his plan that "to lower the prices of prescription drugs now, we need to:

• Allow Medicare to negotiate with the big drug companies to lower prescription drug prices with the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act.
• Allow patients, pharmacists, and wholesalers to buy low-cost prescription drugs from Canada and other industrialized countries with the Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act.
• Cut prescription drug prices in half, with the Prescription Drug Price Relief Act, by pegging prices to the median drug price in five major countries: Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan.

Earlier this year, Bernie (+ Ro Khanna in the House) introduced the Prescription Drug Price Relief Act> Bernie: "The United States pays, by far, the highest drug prices in the world for one reason: we let drug companies get away with murder. In 2017, the pharmaceutical industry made more than twice as much money in the U.S.-- $453 billion-- than in all European countries combined. The top five drug companies alone made over $50 billion, while the top five American pharmaceutical CEOs made more than $113 million in compensation. This legislation would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make sure that Americans don’t pay more for prescription drugs than the median price of the following five countries: Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan. If pharmaceutical manufacturers refuse to lower drug prices down to the median price of these five countries, the federal government would be required to approve cheaper generic versions of those drugs, regardless of any patents or market exclusivities that are in place. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, if this legislation were to become law, the prices of most brand name drugs would be cut in half. For example, under this bill:

• Premarin, for menopause, which currently costs about $165 for a 30-day supply in the U.S., could cost $83.

• Januvia, for diabetes, which currently costs about $436 for 30-day supply in the U.S., could cost $218.

• Advair Diskus, for asthma and COPD, which currently costs about $390 for a 30-day supply in the U.S., could cost $195.

• Xarelto, for blood clots, which currently costs about $432 for a 30-day supply in the U.S., could cost $216.

• Lantus, which is insulin for diabetes and currently costs about $387 for a 30-day supply in the U.S., could cost $194.

• Humira, for arthritis, which currently costs about $2,770 for a 30-day supply in the U.S., could cost $1,385.

• Enbrel, for arthritis, which currently costs about $4,941 for a 30-day supply in the U.S., could cost $2,471.

• Ventolin, for asthma, which currently costs about $60 for a 30-day supply in the U.S., could cost $30.

• Xtandi, for cancer, which currently costs about $101 for a 30-day supply in the U.S., could cost $51. 


Bernie added that "Although President Trump recently proposed gradually lowering the prices of certain drugs covered by Medicare Part B to international price levels, his proposal does not help the over 150 million Americans who get private health insurance from their employer, many of whom struggle with high deductibles and copayments, or the more than 30 million Americans who are uninsured and must pay the full cash price of their prescription drugs at the pharmacy. Today, a full 80 percent of Americans say that drug prices are unreasonable and just nine percent think that drug companies put patients over profits. The pharmaceutical industry will continue to rip off American patients as long as it can. The Prescription Drug Price Relief Act puts an end to this highway robbery, and will help save lives and reduce premiums by lowering drug prices."

On Wednesday, the Trump Regime proposed a rule-- the "Safe Import Action Plan"-- that will allow states to import medicine from Canada. Trump and his Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, say this will lower the cost of drugs. But will it actually lower the cost of drugs?

Jim Greenwood, current head of biotech industry group BIO and a former Republican congressman, said that importation would not result in lower prices for consumers, citing nonpartisan budget experts and past FDA commissioners.

“Today’s announcement is the latest empty gesture from our elected lawmakers who want us to believe they’re serious about lowering patients’ prescription drug costs,” Greenwood said.

The Canadian government has also criticized the plan. The country’s ambassador said last month that importing medicines from Canada would not significantly lower U.S. prices. Reuters previously reported that Canada had warned U.S. officials it would oppose any import plan that might threaten the Canadian drug supply or raise costs for Canadians.

Drugs approved to be imported from Canada would exclude many prescribed drugs, such as biologic drugs, including insulin, controlled substances and intravenous drugs.

Trump, a Republican, has struggled to deliver on a pledge to lower drug prices before the November 2020 election. Healthcare costs are expected to be a major focus of the campaign by Trump and Democratic rivals vying to run against him.

The Trump administration in July scrapped an ambitious policy that would have required health insurers to pass billions of dollars in rebates they receive from drugmakers to Medicare patients.

Also in July, a federal judge struck down a Trump administration rule that would have forced pharmaceutical companies to include the wholesale prices of their drugs in television advertising.

Both the House of Representatives and the Senate are putting forth drug pricing bills that contain some of the proposals Trump has advocated, such as indexing public drug reimbursements to foreign drug costs.

But Trump has said he will veto the Democrat-led House bill if it comes to his desk on the grounds that it would slow down innovation.

And, so far, McConnell has refused to allow any bills to actually lower the cost of drugs to even come to the floor of the Senate for a debate. McConnell has even refused to allow a modest bill written by Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley and approved by the Senate Finance Committee, on which Grassley is the chair.

I asked some of the progressive Democrats for their own perspectives on how best to lower the cost of medicine. Cristina Ramirez, the most-- and only viable-- progressive in the Democratic primary to win the nomination in Texas to face anti-healthcare fanatic John Cornyn, was the first to reply. "I know," she said, "that the high cost of prescription drugs are hurting American families-- particularly ones with chronic illnesses, like my own mother, who has diabetes and has had to split her pills because they are so expensive. John Cornyn has repeatedly said that he wants to address the cost of prescription drugs, yet when he has introduced legislation, he has always been willing to change it if the drug industry, which has given him over $900,000 in campaign contributions, asks him to. I will listen to the people, not drug companies, when it comes to lowering prescription drug costs. I will advocate for a Medicare-for-All system that lets people who are sick go to the doctor and get the medicine they need without having to worry about the cost, and I will make sure the government holds Pharma companies accountable to lower drug prices overall in the long term."

Betsy Sweet is the progressive taking on Maine's Susan Collins. "First," she said, "I stand with Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Ro Khanna and will fight for Medicare For All and the Prescription Drug Price Relief Act because these are our best hope at delivering quality health care to all Americans. Second, we have to look more closely at intellectual property law, right now, the government has provided over 1 trillion dollars to the research and development of life-saving medicines, yet allow private industries to control the intellectual property and reap record profits. We need to reevaluate this system to ensure that everyone benefits from the research we fund collectively. Third, we need to get big money out of politics to stop big pharma from legally bribing politicians to rig the rules in their favor."