WASHINGTON, D.C. — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now (P4ADNow) and AARP sent a joint letter to key House committee leaders opposing The EPIC Act (H.R. 1492), a bill that would delay when Medicare can negotiate lower prices on small-molecule drugs. The letter urges Congress to reject the measure, which would weaken the historic Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program and cost patients and taxpayers billions in higher drug prices.
“Congress should be building on the success of Medicare negotiation in line with what the American people are urgently demanding — not actively undermining it,” said Merith Basey, Executive Director of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “The EPIC Act would delay lower prices, prolong high costs, and hurt the very people this program was designed to help. If lawmakers want to align exemption periods, they should support reducing the negotiation exemption period for biologic drugs to match that of small molecules — not hand the drug industry a $10 billion giveaway and four more years to price-gouge patients.”
The joint letter highlights that under the proposed legislation, more than half of the drugs already selected for Medicare negotiation would not have qualified, including widely used treatments like Eliquis, Jardiance, and Ozempic. It also points out that shortening the timeline for biologics, rather than extending the delay for small molecule drugs, could save billions of dollars — a win for both patients and the federal budget.
Polling shows overwhelming bipartisan support for Medicare drug price negotiation, with 67% of voters supporting expansion of the program to all drugs covered by Medicare. Yet pharmaceutical companies are lobbying hard to gut the program through legislative changes like the EPIC Act, falsely claiming that earlier negotiation will hurt innovation. In fact, small-molecule innovation has remained strong since the passage of the 2022 prescription drug law, and American taxpayers already fund the majority of early-stage drug development.
Read the full letter here.
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Patients For Affordable Drugs Now, is the only national, patient advocacy organization focused exclusively on policies to lower drug prices. We empower and mobilize patients and allies, hold accountable those in power, and fight to shape and achieve system-changing policies that make prescription drugs affordable for all people in the United States. P4ADNow is bipartisan and does not accept funding from organizations that profit from the development or distribution of prescription drugs. To learn more visit; PatientsForAffordableDrugsNOW.org.