WASHINGTON, D.C. — As Congress works to finalize the framework for the president’s Build Back Better plan, AARP and Patients For Affordable Drugs Now sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer today urging them to include the most popular provision — allowing Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. The letter identifies key elements that the legislation must include to fulfill promises to meaningfully lower prices for patients: negotiation on the highest-priced drugs, drugs covered under both Medicare Parts D and B, and drugs without meaningful competition; penalties for annual price increases that exceed the rate of inflation; and a hard cap on annual out-of-pocket costs for Medicare patients.
“This is the moment to enact legislation that will help millions of Americans who are forgoing drugs they have been prescribed but cannot afford, rationing, and choosing between paying rent or paying for prescriptions they need,” Nancy A. LeaMond, Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy and Engagement Officer at AARP, and David Mitchell, cancer patient and founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now, say in the letter.
Right now, Americans are forced to pay three times what other wealthy nations pay for the same medicine. Even after hearing the industry’s false claims that negotiation will bring harm to patients and consumers, more than 8 out of 10Americans support allowing Medicare to negotiate.
Read the full letter here and below.
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