WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the House passed a reconciliation package that includes the ORPHAN Cures Act (H.R. 946), a pharma-backed provision that would create new loopholes in the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program — just months before the first lowered prices take effect. Patients For Affordable Drugs Now strongly opposes the inclusion of this policy, which serves the interests of drug corporations at the expense of patients and taxpayers.

“In a giveaway to Big Pharma, the House just voted to weaken one of the most effective and popular drug pricing reforms in decades — ignoring the will of nine in ten Americans who are demanding Congress do more to lower prescription drug costs,” said Merith Basey, Executive Director of P4ADNOW. “By letting high-cost drugs with multiple orphan uses avoid negotiation and extending the timeline before negotiation for other medications, lawmakers have handed pharmaceutical corporations a new and unnecessary way to protect monopoly pricing — all while 1 in 3 Americans can’t afford their medications.”

Despite industry claims, the ORPHAN Cures Act does nothing to advance innovation. The 2022 prescription drug law already safeguards orphan drug development incentives. Instead, this bill keeps U.S. prices high while other nations pay far less. According to the CBO, the bill would cost taxpayers at least $5 billion over the next 10 years — a massive giveaway to the pharmaceutical industry at the expense of patients.

P4ADNOW patient advocates have mobilized in opposition to this bill, sending thousands of letters to Congress urging its rejection. The fight is not over — the reconciliation package now heads to the Senate, where P4ADNOW will continue working to protect patient savings and block harmful industry carveouts.

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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.