P4ADNow Launches New Ad Thanking Rep. Wild For Standing With Patients To Let Medicare Negotiate And Voting To Pass The Build Back Better Act To Lower Drug Prices

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now today launched an ad thanking Rep. Susan Wild (PA-07) for being a champion in the fight for lower drug prices and for her vote to pass the Build Back Better Act. The ad features a cancer patient named Jackie, whose cancer medication, Revlimid, is priced at over $20,000 every month. 

“Millions of people like me are struggling. It’s time for our leaders to lead,” Jackie says in the ad. 

The ad responds to Rep. Wild’s vote in favor of the Build Back Better Act, which passed the House of Representatives on Nov. 19. Rep. Wild has been a leader in pushing for meaningful drug price reforms to be included in the Build Back Better Act. Following the release of the White House’s Build Back Better framework, which did not include any drug price reforms, she signed a lettercalling for the inclusion of reforms as an essential element in the legislation. Earlier this year, Rep. Wild led another letter calling on President Biden to include drug pricing in the reconciliation package. 

“On behalf of patients, we thank Rep. Wild for fighting to ensure the inclusion of meaningful drug price reforms in the Build Back Better Act,” said David Mitchell, a patient with incurable blood cancer whose drugs carry a list price of more than $900,000 per year and founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “Her steadfast support for the drug price provisions in the Build Back Better Act was a key factor in the House passage of the bill that finally allows Medicare to negotiate lower prices. Ninety percent of voters support Medicare negotiation, and the reforms in Build Back Better will help millions of Americans.” 

The ad will run as the Senate moves to take up the Build Back Better Act in December. The Build Back Better Act will, for the first time, authorize Medicare to negotiate prices directly for some of the most expensive prescription medicines, including insulin; institute a hard cap on out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries; and limit annual price increases to stop price gouging by drug corporations. 

“Congresswoman Wild just voted to pass the Build Back Better Act, which for the first time lets Medicare negotiate lower drug prices for Pennsylvanians,” the ad running on digital platforms says. “She stood up to Big Pharma attacks and did the right thing for patients. Tell Representative Wild: Thank you for voting to lower drug prices for millions of Americans.”

Watch the ad here.

Full transcript of the ad below:

JACKIE: This is a four-week supply of my chemotherapy. It’s 20 pills, and it’s $20,000 every single month. Millions of people like me are struggling. It’s time for our leaders to lead.

VO: Congresswoman Wild just voted to pass the Build Back Better Act, which for the first time lets Medicare negotiate lower drug prices for Pennsylvanians. She stood up to Big Pharma attacks and did the right thing for patients. Tell Representative Wild: Thank you for voting to lower drug prices for millions of Americans.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now launched a campaign in West Virginia today highlighting Senator Joe Manchin’s commitment to allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices for West Virginians, emphasizing that the policy is a key feature of the Build Back Better Act, and asking for his support. The campaign includes a 60-second radio ad, digital ads, and grassroots advocacy, in which patients write and call the senator directly thanking him for supporting Medicare negotiation and asking him to get the job done by passing the Build Back Better Act, including the current provisions that lower drug prices for patients.

“Senator Manchin has been an outspoken champion on Medicare negotiation to lower prescription drug prices for West Virginians. The Build Back Better Act, which includes historic drug price reforms, requires his support to deliver the lower prices West Virginians need,” said David Mitchell, a patient with incurable blood cancer whose drugs carry a list price of more than $900,000 per year and founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “We know that Big Pharma will be fighting hard to block this reform, and we are counting on Senator Manchin to stand up to the drug corporations and vote yes for the Build Back Better Act.” 

The ad launches following the passage of the Build Back Better Act out of the House of Representatives on Nov. 19. The Build Back Better Act includes drug pricing legislation that will, for the first time, authorize Medicare to negotiate prices directly for some of the most expensive prescription medicines, including insulin; institute a hard cap on out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries; and limit annual price increases to stop price gouging by drug corporations. 

“It makes no sense at all that we don’t go out and negotiate. The VA does a tremendous job. Medicaid does it. Why doesn’t Medicare?” Senator Manchin says in the radio ad. The voiceover adds, “West Virginians know Joe Manchin does what’s best for our state. He supports Medicare negotiation, and we’re counting on him to support the Build Back Better Act.” 

Listen to the full radio ad here.

All of P4ADNow’s recent ads can be viewed here.

Yesterday, the House Built Back Better.
Welcome to the Week in Review.

1.  A Historic Milestone

• The House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better Act yesterday, including reforms that are a historic step toward resetting a broken drug pricing system and lowering prices for Americans. If passed into law, the landmark legislation would allow Medicare to negotiate lower prices for the most expensive drugs for the very first time. “On behalf of patients, we urge the Senate to move swiftly to pass the Build Back Better Act with the current drug pricing legislation intact, and to resist efforts by Big Pharma to weaken it in any way,” said P4ADNow’s David Mitchell. Americans can’t wait any longer for relief from high drug prices. — (STAT)

2. We Saved Ourselves

• This week, P4AD released a video and a fact sheet telling the true origin story of the COVID-19 vaccines. Taxpayers funded years of research into vaccine technology prior to the pandemic and spent billions of dollars developing, manufacturing, and purchasing the vaccines after the pandemic hit. Drug companies took the money and are now set to break records on drug sales, and AstraZeneca announced that it will transition to for-profit pricing. “The moral of the story? Pharma did its job, but it didn’t save us,” the animated video says. “We taxpayers saved ourselves.” — (P4ADNow)

3. Raising Prices, Just Because

• A new report from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review identified seven costly drugs, including the best-selling medication Humira, that saw significant price hikes in 2020 without clinical justification. “These treatments have been on the market for many years, with scant evidence that they are any more effective … than when they cost far less.” Drug companies shouldn’t be able to price gouge patients and raise prices at will, forcing too many to choose between paying for their prescription drugs or their bills. It’s time to put a stop to pharma’s predatory pricing practices. — (Reuters)

4. The Savings Are Negligible

• Semglee, an insulin biosimilar to Lantus that was approved earlier this year, is priced at $269 per vial — less than $20 lower than the price of Lantus. While the industry touted this change as an “affordable alternative” price, this is really just another example of how biosimilar drugs can still be priced out of reach for patients instead of providing significant savings. The entire pharmaceutical chain, which continues to exploit patients for maximum profits, is due for reform. — (Axios)

5.  Lifting The Veil On Drug Prices

• A new rule from the Biden administration requires insurance companies to report the highest-cost drugs to the government. The transparency measure, which will allow policymakers to identify ways to lower prices, is another step in the right direction toward building a more fair drug pricing system for the people it is supposed to serve: patients. — (FierceHealthcare)

One more thing: P4ADNow founder David Mitchell appeared on Inside America with Ghida Fakhry to discuss the popularity of drug pricing reforms like Medicare negotiation and the fight to get the legislation passed this year.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The following statement was issued by David Mitchell, a cancer patient and founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now, following the House of Representatives’ passage of the Build Back Better Act:

“We achieved an historic milestone today as the House of Representatives stood up to Big Pharma and passed the Build Back Better Act, including reforms to restructure drug pricing policy in America and provide long overdue relief to Americans who struggle to afford essential medicines. We are grateful to Speaker Pelosi, Chairman Pallone, and so many champions in the House for their dedicated leadership and determined effort to reach a consensus that will lower drug prices for patients and the American people. 

“While the drug pricing provisions are not as expansive as we would have wished, they will help millions of Americans in the coming years while laying a foundation that can be built upon in the future. The legislation will, for the first time, authorize direct negotiation for some of the most expensive prescription medicines, including insulin; institute a hard cap on out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries; and limit annual price increases to stop price gouging by drug corporations — a provision that will help every American. 

“The drug price reforms included in the Build Back Better Act represent a hard-fought compromise. On behalf of patients, we urge the Senate to move swiftly to pass the Build Back Better Act with the current drug pricing legislation intact, and to resist efforts by Big Pharma to weaken it in any way. Millions of American lives depend on it.”

The next four weeks will be critical for drug pricing reforms in Washington. We are on the verge of winning the most sweeping legislation to lower drug prices in decades. But Big Pharma and its allies in Congress are still trying to block or weaken it, and we must keep doing everything in our power to get it over the finish line intact. 

If we succeed, it will be the product of compromise, which means it won’t be everything we wanted. It will, however, make a meaningful difference in the lives of millions of patients and virtually every American. Because the legislation resets practices all across the drug pricing system in this country, the reforms will be implemented over time.

Starting in 2023, we will curb year-over-year price gouging by making drug corporations pay penalties if they raise prices faster than the rate of inflation. This price increase cap will protect all Americans in both Medicare and private sector insurance plans. Co-payments for insulin will be limited to $35 a month for all Medicare Part D beneficiaries and in most private sector plans.

In 2024, everyone on Medicare Part D will be protected from high out-of-pocket costs. Right now, there is no annual out-of-pocket maximum in the Medicare retail drug benefit, and people can wind up paying more than $15,000 a year if they need an expensive drug to manage acute or chronic disease. Beginning in 2024, annual out-of-pocket costs will be capped at $2,000. A redesign of the program will incentivize drug plan operators to negotiate more aggressively with drugmakers for lower prices on our behalf. Additionally, Medicare beneficiaries will no longer pay cost-sharing on any recommended vaccines.

In 2025, for the first time ever, negotiated prices will begin to take effect for Medicare for the most expensive drugs. Negotiations will focus on older drugs without competition. The first year will include 10 of the highest-spend prescription drugs, moving to a total of up to 100 drugs by the end of the decade. Negotiations will start with a ceiling price set at a discount of at least 25 percent to 60 percent off the average manufacturer price, depending on how long the drug has been on the market. Lower negotiated prices will save money directly and help hold the line on premiums and out-of-pocket costs for people on Medicare. Negotiated prices will also be public, so employers and insurers can use them as leverage to get a better deal in the private sector.

Also in 2025, Medicare plans must offer enrollees the option of “smoothing” monthly out-of-pocket payments. Right now, the payment for the first month of the year can be brutal for people taking expensive drugs. Instead, beneficiaries will be able to spread the costs more equally over the year to make costs more affordable and manageable.

Much has been written about the effect of lowering drug prices on innovation and new drug development. Let’s be clear: This legislation protects, encourages, and rewards innovation. Drug corporations will still be able to set prices on new drugs to reap rewards for investment and risk. That is how we incentivize innovation now, and nothing will change to affect that process. Any scare-mongering you hear from Big Pharma about innovation under this legislation is pure hogwash.

Together, these provisions fundamentally reform our system to make it work better for those it is intended to serve — patients and all Americans. It is not as strong as we wanted, but we have to contend with the realities of the political process. There is no Republican support for Medicare negotiation in Congress — not one vote. So the bill has to be passed under a legislative procedure called reconciliation, requiring only 50 votes in the Senate. That means we cannot lose any Democratic votes in the evenly divided Senate, and there are only three votes to spare in the House.

Frankly, this bill would have been stronger with just a couple more votes on our side in each chamber. But instead, we have seen the bill weakened by members of Congress who have been serving the interests of Big Pharma — notably, Reps. Scott Peters (D-CA), Kurt Schrader (D-OR), Kathleen Rice (D-NY), Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) and Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ). Outrageously, these members are trying to take credit for winning this bill when it has taken every ounce of our effort and that of our allies in and out of Congress to fight these pro-pharma members and keep the bill as strong as it is.

The credit for the bill we are now pushing to pass goes to many people and organizations, including AARP, consumer groups, some physician groups, large employers, small business owners, President Biden, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and stalwart supporters in both the House and Senate.

Most importantly, much of the credit goes to you — patient advocates. The fight for Medicare negotiation has been nearly two decades, and we are on the brink of getting it done. What was different this time? Thousands of you stood up and shared your stories with news media, on Capitol Hill, in state legislatures, and beyond. Without you, we would not be on the precipice of historic change.  

Having said that, we are not home yet. Our legislation is a part of the Build Back Better package that the House hopes to vote on by the week of Nov. 15. Then it goes to the Senate, and then back to the House. Final action is likely by mid-December. There is still treacherous terrain to cross before we finish the job. Big Pharma — with three lobbyists for every member of Congress — is still swarming over Capitol Hill to try to weaken the bill every day.

That’s why the next four weeks are critical. We will be doing everything we can to make sure the drug pricing legislation gets across the finish line without further weakening amendments. And we need you to buckle down for this final stretch push with us to get it done. Go to MedicareNegotiation.org and send a message to your members of Congress today. Patients have made a key difference in this fight. Now, let’s finish the job.