WASHINGTON, DC — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now launched a new advertising campaign today thanking Senator Martha McSally for supporting the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act, a bill that would stop drug company price gouging and lower costs for seniors. Drug pricing is top-of-mind for 2020 voters — nearly nine in 10 want Congress to prioritize lowering the prices of medications, polling shows.
Today’s campaign encourages Arizona patients to reach out to McSally’s office directly and thank her for standing with constituents — not Big Pharma.
“Senator McSally listened to her constituents who are calling out for relief from Big Pharma’s unrestrained price hikes,” said Ben Wakana, Executive Director of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “We want her to know how much patients appreciate her support and work to advance bipartisan reform that would help fix our broken system.”
Relief from high drug prices can’t arrive soon enough for patients like Luz Lopez who travelled from Arizona to Washington, DC to share her story with Senator McSally and advocate for reforms that would lower drug prices.
“I don’t know from one year to the next if I’ll be able to afford the prescriptions I need to treat multiple chronic conditions, including depression and anxiety,” Lopez said. “It is so meaningful to me that Senator McSally listened and stood up for me. I hope more members of Congress follow her lead.”
BACKGROUND
- Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced the bipartisan Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act in July 2019.
- The bill would penalize drug companies for price hikes above inflation and cap out-of-pocket costs for seniors on Medicare at $3,100 per year.
- With her endorsement, McSally joined President Trump and bipartisan lawmakers in supporting the bill, which passed the Senate Finance Committee in July.
- The bill currently awaits a vote from the full Senate.
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