Big Pharma may want us to think the odds are stacked against us, but Rich Strike proved that no odds are too great to overcome.
Welcome to the Week in Review.
1. Time To Reset The System
- On Tuesday, President Biden delivered a speech on inflation and described drug pricing reforms, including Medicare negotiation, as a key part of his plan to lower costs for Americans. Drug companies charge Americans over three times what people in other wealthy countries pay for the same brand-name drugs, resulting in sky-high costs for patients and taxpayers. A new AARP analysis found that manufacturers of themost costly drugs for Medicare Part D recouped an average of five times the development costs over a five-year period. To reset the rigged drugpricing system, lawmakers must tackle the headwaters of the problem — list prices of brand-name drugs — and allow Medicare to negotiate. Senators, you have the votes to pass drug pricing reforms through reconciliation. It’s time to act before the clock runs out. — (Spectrum News, AARP, HowStuffWorks)
2. In Focus: A Texas Patient’s Story
- P4ADNow patient advocate Jacqueline Garibay shared her story with high drug prices in a Spectrum News Austin segment on the fight for drugpricing reform. “It was difficult for me to justify paying $4,000 a month, almost, for medication,” said Jacqueline, a 20-year-old college student who lives with ankylosing spondylitis and has had to forgo her biologic drug due to its high cost. “Without this, there’s a huge possibility that I lose mobility entirely.” Jacqueline and other patients are urging theSenate to advance the House-passed drug pricing reforms by Memorial Day. Patients aren’t giving up this fight for our lives and our future. — (Spectrum News)
3. Let Medicare Negotiate. Now.
- This week, Senator Tammy Duckworth and advocacy leaders called on Congress to pass Medicare negotiation legislation to help patients afford their medications. “As a Veteran, I’m able to afford the medications I need in part because the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs can negotiate with drug companies to make my prescriptions more affordable. But millions of other Americans don’t have that option,” explains Senator Duckworth. “Congress should … allow Medicare to negotiate lower drugprices, saving us money and making it easier for seniors to afford life-saving medicine,” writes Heather O’Loughlin, co-director of the Montana Budget and Policy Center. “We need our elected representatives to support price negotiations that actually stop the drug corporations from charging whatever they want and raising prices at will,” says Sue Dinsdale, director of the Iowa Citizen Action Network. — (The Southern Illinoisan, Missoula Current, The Gazette)
Have a great weekend, everyone!