OREGON — In response to yesterday’s reporting that Rep. Kurt Schrader (OR-05) is among a group of Democrats pressuring Congress to weaken or abandon Medicare negotiation provisions in the reconciliation package, the following statement was issued by David Mitchell, a cancer patient and founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now:
“Americans are paying almost four times what other nations pay for brand-name drugs. But instead of supporting legislation that would let Medicare negotiate lower drug prices for Americans, Rep. Schrader is pushing a substitute that would exempt the most expensive drugs from negotiation and leave drug companies with the power to continue dictating prices for brand-name drugs. The proposed alternate bill supported by Rep. Schrader is a sellout to Big Pharma that renders Medicare negotiation meaningless and fails to deliver on Democrats’ promise to help patients by lowering drug prices.
“To be clear, effective Medicare negotiation legislation must allow negotiation for all drugs under both Parts B and D as well as drugs still in their period of exclusivity. Rep. Schrader’s proposal is masquerading as Medicare negotiation and would maintain the status quo, leaving patients paying by far the highest prices in the world for their prescription drugs.
“Medicare negotiation is the most popular priority of the Build Back Better plan and 91 percent of voters in Rep. Schrader’s district want Congress to pass Medicare negotiation. If this alternative proposal moves forward, voters will remember that when given the choice, Rep. Schrader chose to carry Big Pharma’s water instead of acting on behalf of his constituents’ needs.”
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OREGON — Nearly 40 labor, business, consumer, and health care organizations sent a letter this week calling on Congress to pass legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. The letter praises H.R. 3, the House bill that would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices, as well as Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden’s recent guiding principles for drug pricing reform, which are expected to be considered for inclusion in the Democrats’ reconciliation budget package later this year.
“We hope Rep. Schrader recognizes that major labor, business, consumer, and health care groups in this nation all agree that Medicare must have the ability to negotiate lower drug prices for Americans,” said David Mitchell, a cancer patient and founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “Nine out of 10Americans support this policy. We are calling on Rep. Schrader to stand with patients against Big Pharma’s lobbying machine.”
Rep. Schrader has refused to support H.R. 3, a bill that would allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices, in this Congress. He originally said he was proud of his vote in support of H.R. 3 in 2019, but since then has raised concerns about the legislation, even suggesting Congress take a less “robust”approach to drug pricing reform, contrary to the wishes of 90 percent of Americans.
Big Pharma has been spreading lies to try to stop drug pricing reform from moving forward — the pharmaceuticals and health products industry spentabout $92 million on lobbying in the first quarter of the year, more than any other industry.
The letter, addressed to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, asks them to:
“This year provides the best opportunity in decades to pass legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices and bring meaningful relief to millions of Americans who struggle to afford their prescription drugs,” Mitchell continued. “As President Biden said, ‘Let’s do it now.’”
Patients For Affordable Drugs Now is one of nearly 40 organizations that signed onto the letter, which was led by Families USA. In an effort to pass legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate, P4ADNow recently launched a campaign calling on Rep. Schrader to support policy reform that would bring relief to Oregonians.
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OREGON — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now announced the launch of a campaign calling out Rep. Kurt Schrader (OR-05) for threatening to block Medicare negotiation bill H.R. 3, and calling on him to support the legislation that would lower drug prices for Americans. The new push began on July 2 and includes TV ads, digital ads, and grassroots advocacy, in which patients will write and call Rep. Schrader directly asking him to support plans to allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices.
“Rep. Schrader has a choice — he can continue to do the bidding of Big Pharma, or he can stand with patients by supporting Medicare negotiation and H.R. 3,” said David Mitchell, a cancer patient and founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “Right now, Rep. Schrader is attempting to block legislation that could save the lives of 94,000 Americans each year. As Therese Ball, a multiple sclerosis patient, says in the ad, ‘It’s unforgivable.’ But he can still do the right thing by endorsing H.R. 3, which will deliver the innovation we need at prices we can afford.”
Rep. Schrader has refused to support H.R. 3, a bill that would allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices, in this Congress. He originally said he was proud of his vote in support of H.R. 3 in 2019, but since then has raised concerns about the legislation, even suggesting Congress take a less “robust”approach to drug pricing reform, contrary to the wishes of 90 percent of Americans.
The campaign kicks off with a new video ad featuring multiple sclerosis patient and registered nurse Therese Ball from Ogden Dunes, Indiana. To manage her symptoms, Ball is prescribed Tysabri, which is priced at $7,463 each month.
“As a nurse, I had patients who struggled to pay for their prescription drugs. When I was diagnosed with MS, I became one, too. The medications I need to live are priced at over $7,000 a month,” Ball, a grandmother and retired nurse, says in the video ads. “Members of Congress are choosing Big Pharma over patients. It’s unforgivable.”
“Ninety percent of Americans want Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices, but Rep. Kurt Schrader is working to block it,” the ad says. “Tell him to do the right thing and support the Lower Drug Costs Now Act.”
Watch the video ad here and view the static ad below:
P4ADNow also launched similar ads calling out Reps. David Valadao (CA-21), Scott Peters (CA-52), and Richard Hudson (NC-08), who have also refused to endorse H.R. 3.
P4ADNow launched its first campaign directed towards the 117th Congress on May 20. The national campaign had a seven-figure budget and called for support of H.R. 3 in 42 House districts across 22 states and in D.C. It expandedlast week, adding two more House districts. The campaign is, in part, a counterweight to Big Pharma’s attack ads loaded with lies about H.R. 3 and includes video ads, digital ads, and grassroots advocacy.
H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, was reintroducedin the House of Representatives in April. The chamber passed the bill in the 116th Congress. It will lower prices, rein in price gouging, and reduce out-of-pocket costs by restoring balance to the U.S. drug pricing system to ensure both innovation and affordability.
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OREGON — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now kicks off a campaign today calling on Rep. Kurt Schrader (OR-05) to support swift passage of H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, a package of drug pricing reforms that includes allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prices for Oregonians. The campaign includes digital advertising and grassroots advocacy to enable constituents to contact Rep. Schrader to urge him to stand with Oregonians and support H.R. 3.
“Our message to Rep. Schrader is clear: You have a choice. You can stand with Big Pharma, which is fighting against lower drug prices for your constituents, or stand with Oregonians. Now is the moment to show that you will fight for patients,” said David Mitchell, a cancer patient and founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “Oregonians need Rep. Schrader to push for passage of H.R. 3 to ensure we get affordable medicines we need now and innovation for the future.”
H.R. 3 was recently reintroduced in the House of Representatives. The chamber passed the bill in the 116th Congress. H.R. 3 is a comprehensive bill that will lower prices, rein in price gouging, and reduce out-of-pocket costs by restoring balance to the U.S. drug pricing system to ensure both innovation and affordability.
The campaign is part of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now’s seven-figure national campaign launching simultaneously in 42 House districts across 22 states and in D.C. It comes on the heels of Big Pharma’s recent attack adloaded with lies about H.R. 3.
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SALEM, Ore. — Oregon patient advocate Joanna Olson will testify today in front of the Oregon House Health Care Committee in support of Senate Bill 764, which would crack down on abusive “pay-for-delay” deals between pharmaceutical manufacturers that delay generic competition and keep drug prices high.
Olson, a retired grandmother in Beaverton, suffers from a blood clotting condition. She is prescribed Eliquis, which costs her $430 for a month’s supply. “Every time I pick up the prescription, I think about leaving without the drug,” Olson, 86, will explain.
Eliquis wasn’t always this expensive — the company that makes it has hiked the price every year since 2013, nearly doubling the price during that time.
“Pharmaceutical companies set exorbitant prices while simultaneously blocking generic competition simply because they can,” Olson will say to the committee. “A common medicine needed by millions, like Eliquis, shouldn’t break the bank for seniors like me who live on a fixed income. I urge you to vote in support of Senate Bill 764 to bring much-needed relief to patients across our state.”
SB 764 would prohibit an anti-competitive drug industry tactic called “pay-for-delay,” in which a brand-name drug maker cuts a deal with a generic company to delay the introduction of a lower-priced drug to market. The bill would also allow the Oregon attorney general to bring civil action against companies involved in such deals, with penalties up to three times the value of the drug or $10 million (whichever amount is greater).
Oregon patient advocate Michael Nielsen testified in front of the Senate Health Care Committee in support of SB 764 in March. Nielsen’s wife, Jacki, was diagnosed with the potentially fatal disease hepatitis C, and her medication is priced at more than $13,000 — or $433 per pill.
The hearing and Olson’s testimony can be watched here at 3:15 PM PT.
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SALEM, Ore. — The following statement was issued by Sheila McLean, a patient and the executive director of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now, after the Oregon Senate passed SB 764, which cracks down on abusive “pay-for-delay” deals between pharmaceutical manufacturers that delay generic competition and keep drug prices high:
“Oregonians have been suffering from high drug prices at the whim of Big Pharma for far too long. SB 764 would rightfully prohibit pharmaceutical companies from rigging the system to delay less expensive, generic medications from coming to market. This legislation would finally give Oregonians the access to less expensive prescriptions they desperately need. On behalf of patients, we urge the Oregon House to move quickly to pass this bill.”
Background:
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I’m Janet Bacon and I’m from Happy Valley, Oregon. I have been a retiree for the last 20 years and a Medicare beneficiary for the last 12 years. In order to stay my healthiest, I require the inhalers Spiriva Respimat and ProAir, alongside other medications. For Spiriva alone, I spent $3,300 last year. I tried to switch to a less expensive inhaler, but it doesn’t work as well for me, so I have to go back to using Spiriva. The pharmaceutical industry shouldn’t charge so much for a medication to help me breathe. I spent about $6,400 last year out-of-pocket for all of my medications. This is unreasonable.
My partner and I expected to be able to enjoy our retirement, but instead, we’re constantly having to cut back on expenses to be able to afford the rising prices of my medications. I have a bad back, and I used to be able to afford to hire someone to help clean my home. Now, with the rising drug costs, we can’t afford that. To walk comfortably, I need orthopedic inserts but can’t get them because they cost $200. To keep living, I need to keep breathing –– so my inhaler costs always come first. There isn’t an end in sight to pharmaceutical price gouging. If drug prices continue rising at this rate, my husband and I will be forced to sell our home and property.
The drug industry likes to talk about its “assistance programs,” but I can tell you that even with our meager income, we make too much to qualify for them. People like me don’t need paperwork and hoops to jump through –– we need lower drug prices.
It’s not fair that the pharmaceutical industry is profiting off of retirees on fixed incomes like us. Our legislators have to limit the ability of drug companies to keep raising prices. Congress needs to allow for Medicare negotiation.
SALEM, Ore. — Oregon patient advocate Michael Nielsen will testify in front of the Oregon Senate Committee on Health Care today in support of Senate Bill 764, which cracks down on abusive “pay-for-delay” deals between pharmaceutical manufacturers that delay generic competition and keep prices high.
Nielsen’s wife, Jacki, was diagnosed with the potentially fatal disease hepatitis C. In 2020, after Jacki’s illness progressed, her doctor prescribed her the curative drug Mavyret. But a 90-day supply of the medication is priced at more than $13,000 — or $433 per pill. That was unaffordable for the couple.
“It’s wrong what the drug companies are allowed to get away with by playing the system and preventing more affordable generics from coming to market,” Nielsen, 69, will tell the committee. “I am asking our legislators to fight for patients like us.”
The couple has devoted their lives to giving back to their community. Nielsen served two tours in Vietnam, and together, they have raised four children and 22 foster children.
“It’s sad to know that even though our family has served our community and our country, the system is still letting us down in our time of need. My wife needlessly suffered simply because her drug is too expensive.”
Senate Bill 764 would prohibit an anti-competitive drug industry tactic called “pay-for-delay,” in which a brand-name drug maker cuts a deal with a generic company to delay the introduction of a lower-priced drug to market. The bill would allow the Oregon attorney general to bring civil action against companies involved in such deals with penalties up to three times the value of the drug. California was the first state in the nation to pass pay-for-delay legislation, and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has successfully defended the legislation in court.
Nielsen’s testimony and the hearing in the Senate Health Care Committee can be viewed here at 1 PM PT today.
SB 764 is part of a package of bills moving through the Oregon State Legislature that address high drug prices. The package also includes House Bill 3267, which would establish a prescription drug affordability board. HB 3267 was introduced last week and was referred to the House Committee on Health Care.
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