Two things that aren’t fair: football games being determined by coin tosses and Americans paying four times more than other countries for prescription drugs.
Welcome to the Week in Review.
1. Our Top Priority
- A new survey reveals that small business owners consider addressing high prescription drug prices a top priority for the reconciliation package. A separate poll shows that Americans believe allowing Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices is the top reason to pass the president’s economic plan. Americans are feeling the pinch of rising costs across the board, and lowering drug prices will mitigate the effects of inflation. Patients, taxpayers, and employers know: Drug pricing reform is common sense. — (Small Business for America’s Future, Navigator Research)
2. Calls For Action
- President Biden and key lawmakers called for Congress to prioritize lowering drug prices. “In 2021, 18 million Americans couldn’t afford their prescription drugs,” Senator Klobuchar tweeted. “Just allow Medicare to negotiate for drug prices,” urged Rep. Slotkin on Meet the Press. We couldn’t agree more — now, let’s get it done. — (Protect Our Care, Senator Klobuchar, NBC News, P4ADNow, Rep. Demings)
3. “The Time Is Upon Us”
- Advocacy groups and a medical society continued to push Congress to pass drug pricing reforms to help patients across the country. “Senator Manchin said he is with us in this fight, and West Virginia families are counting on him to deliver,” the voiceover in Protect Our Care’s ad in West Virginia says. The president of the American Academy of Neurology writes, “The time is upon us to lower prescription drug prices. It is essential that Congress act to ensure that Americans have access to critical therapies.” — (Public News Service, Center for American Progress, Protect Our Care, MedPage Today)
One more thing: From Washington to Virginia, lawmakers have introduced legislation to create prescription drug affordability boards to tackle high prices at the state level.
