WASHINGTON, D.C. — In response to votes in the House Energy & Commerce Committee and the House Education & Labor Committee to advance H.R. 3, a bill that would lower drug prices for all insured Americans through negotiations, Ben Wakana, the executive director of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now, issued the following statement:
“A long day of hard work on drug pricing on Capitol Hill produced a good outcome for patients. H.R. 3 cleared two key House committees, and the public heard from a patient and experts during a robust debate in the Ways & Means Committee. Now is the time to press on and advance this bill into law. Patients are waiting, and we are watching.”
BACKGROUND:
- Today, Patients For Affordable Drugs Now launched a multi-million dollar campaign urging Washington to pass historic drug pricing reforms.
- Eighty six percent of Americans — majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents — support allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices. But under current law, Medicare is prohibited from negotiating directly with drug companies on behalf of taxpayers and Medicare beneficiaries.
- Nearly 1 in 3 adults report not taking their medicines as prescribed because of the cost. One in four have difficulty affording their medications.
- Americans pay two to three times as much for prescription drugs as other wealthy nations.
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