DRUG PRICING NEWS: Patient Group Launches 7-Figure Campaign Urging the Senate to Pass the Trump-Backed Drug Pricing Bill

WASHINGTON, DC — A new campaign by Patients For Affordable Drugs Now calls on Senators to support one of President Trump’s top priorities by passing legislation to lower prescription drug prices. The multi-million dollar campaign, launched today, urges Senators to stand with patients and the President in support of the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act (S. 2543) — a bill that would stop drug company price gouging and lower costs for seniors.
 
“Americans of every political stripe agree that drug prices have got to come down,” said David Mitchell, a cancer patient and the founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “Patients are done with Big Pharma’s lies and outsized influence in Congress, and they’re ready to vote on the issue come November.”
 
The campaign is launching with two national TV ads featuring patients hurt by rising drug prices. Watch the videos, “Gail,” and “Jackie,” and read the transcripts below.
 
As part of the campaign set to run until late May, Patients For Affordable Drugs Now will also release radio and digital advertisements nationally and in key states that demonstrate the toll high prescription drug prices are taking on everyday Americans. In addition, the campaign will commission polling, fly patients to Washington, and offer patients a suite of tools to help them contact their elected officials and demand action to lower drug prices.
 
Starting today, P4ADNow will thank Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), the most recent Senator to endorse the Grassley-Wyden bill.

TV AD TRANSCRIPTS

“Jackie”
 
This is a four week supply of my chemotherapy —
It’s 20 pills, and it’s $20,000 every single month.
You know it’s hard enough thinking that I’m not going to live that long and to leave my husband alone.
But to leave him bankrupt? It’s devastating to me.
Millions of people like me are struggling — and drug prices just keep going up and up.
But now there are bipartisan proposals in Congress that would actually bring those prices down.
Mr. President, Congress, it’s time to make history.
The time is now.

“Gail”

My insulin used to cost $26 a vial.
Today, drug companies charge up to $350 a vial.
This is the same insulin formula I’ve been using for almost 30 years.
Regular middle class people like me — we need help.
Without Congressional intervention, many of us are struggling.
Many are dying.
Just because we can’t afford insulin.
Mr. President and Congress, we are counting on you. 

BACKGROUND

• Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced the bipartisan Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act in July 2019.
• The bill would penalize drug companies for price hikes above inflation and cap out-of-pocket costs for seniors on Medicare at $3,100 per year.
• President Trump and bipartisan lawmakers support the bill, which passed the Senate Finance Committee in July.
• The bill could be included in a health extenders package with a deadline of May 22, 2020.

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WASHINGTON, DC — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now launched a new advertising campaign today thanking Senator Martha McSally for supporting the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act, a bill that would stop drug company price gouging and lower costs for seniors. Drug pricing is top-of-mind for 2020 voters — nearly nine in 10 want Congress to prioritize lowering the prices of medications, polling shows.

Today’s campaign encourages Arizona patients to reach out to McSally’s office directly and thank her for standing with constituents — not Big Pharma.

“Senator McSally listened to her constituents who are calling out for relief from Big Pharma’s unrestrained price hikes,” said Ben Wakana, Executive Director of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “We want her to know how much patients appreciate her support and work to advance bipartisan reform that would help fix our broken system.”

Relief from high drug prices can’t arrive soon enough for patients like Luz Lopez who travelled from Arizona to Washington, DC to share her story with Senator McSally and advocate for reforms that would lower drug prices.
 
“I don’t know from one year to the next if I’ll be able to afford the prescriptions I need to treat multiple chronic conditions, including depression and anxiety,” Lopez said. “It is so meaningful to me that Senator McSally listened and stood up for me. I hope more members of Congress follow her lead.”

BACKGROUND

• Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced the bipartisan Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act in July 2019.
• The bill would penalize drug companies for price hikes above inflation and cap out-of-pocket costs for seniors on Medicare at $3,100 per year.
• With her endorsement, McSally joined President Trump and bipartisan lawmakers in supporting the bill, which passed the Senate Finance Committee in July.
• The bill currently awaits a vote from the full Senate.

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Goodbye, 2019. Hello, 2020! Here is a look at the year in review in prescription drug pricing:

1. States Take a Stand

• In 2019, states passed a record number of laws to rein in high drug prices. California lawmakers passed a groundbreaking bill that would deter Big Pharma from cutting abusive “pay-for-delay” deals. Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to grant its Medicaid program the power to negotiate lower drug prices and to hold companies that refuse to come to the table accountable. Maryland made history by establishing a drug affordability board. And in Maine, bipartisan efforts resulted in a comprehensive slate of prescription drug pricing laws including importation, a prescription drug affordability board, and transparency measures. 

2. Federal Momentum Grows

• The CREATES Act cleared Congress as part of a year-end spending agreement. The bill is expected to save the government $4 billion over 10 years by closing a loophole that had prevented generics from coming to market. Drugs impacted include Revlimid, which costs Part D beneficiaries as much as $2,600 for the first month’s supply. While taken by only 37,500 Americans on Medicare Part D, the drug carried the highest total spending for any drug in the program in 2017. Overdue? Yes. The least Congress could do? Yes. But we’ll take it. 

3. Patient Voices Grow Louder 

• Patients across America are continuing to speak out against ever-increasing prescription drug prices. They’ve testified in statehouses and in Washington, DC and met with legislators in dozens of in-person meetings. And they’ve shared more than 20,000 of their stories with Patients For Affordable Drugs that detail the heartbreaking choices they’re forced to make to afford prescriptions, from skipping doses, to cutting pills in half, to forgoing food. The stories of our brave patient advocates can be found here.

4. Pharma Loses Its Edge

• Pharma is losing its edge in Washington. The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) passed the House before year’s end. Stripped from the deal were enhanced biologic patent exclusivity periods in Mexico and Canada that would have blocked competition and kept prices high. The deal is evidence that progress on drug pricing in gridlocked Washington and in the face of the deep-pocketed drug lobby is possible.

5. It’s Not Perfect, But It’s Progress

• We know the road ahead is long, but let’s not forget how far we’ve come. House passage of H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, marked a major victory in the fight for lower drug prices. The landmark legislation would expand Medicare benefits, support innovation, and save America billions of dollars from lower drug prices. The bipartisan Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act of 2019 cleared the Senate Finance Committee and would cap how much drugmakers could hike prices on medications in Medicare, for the first time, ever. Congress will have another opportunity to work together as it sets about this spring to fund popular health extenders.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lawmakers have a window to make history and lower drug prices, and a new Patients For Affordable Drugs Now campaign will urge Congress and the White House to seize the moment and act now. The multi-million dollar campaign will include TV, digital, and radio ads across the country featuring patients who support proposals in the House and Senate to rein in skyrocketing drug prices. Big Pharma is spending millions to distort, demonize, and relentlessly attack these proposals because the changes could actually break the rigged system that keeps their profits high and patients’ costs skyrocketing.

Watch the videos, “Jackie” and “Gail.”

“Americans are being crushed by high drug prices, and we want to send a message to the White House and Congress: Big Pharma is spreading scare tactics and lies,” said David Mitchell, a cancer patient and the founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “Legislation to lower drug prices must move now. If lawmakers side with Big Pharma instead of patients, they’ll pay in votes.”

Today’s campaign includes support for the:

• House Drug Pricing Package (H.R. 3): The Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019 would let Medicare negotiate directly with drug companies and make negotiated prices available to all Americans — regardless of insurance type. The legislation would also limit drug price spikes to the rate of inflation and cap out-of-pocket costs for seniors in Medicare at $2,000 per year. The House bill shares common ground with the Senate Finance package and the Trump Administration proposal to align the prices of US drugs to prices paid by other wealthy countries.
• Senate Finance Drug Pricing Package (S. 2543): The Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act would penalize drug companies for price hikes above inflation and cap out-of-pocket costs for seniors on Medicare at $3,100 per year.
• White House’s International Pricing Index: Under the Administration’s proposal, Medicare would pay only 26 percent more than other wealthy countries for drugs administered by physicians or in hospital settings — that’s compared to the 80% more it pays today. According to polling, voters support the proposal by a 71-point margin (80% support vs. 9% oppose).

As part of the campaign, Patients For Affordable Drugs Now will release television, radio, and digital advertisements that show the toll high prescription drug prices are taking on everyday Americans, offer a suite of tools that encourage Americans to contact their elected officials in support of lowering drug prices, and share stories of patients suffering under prescription drug prices on social media.

The campaign will launch on Thursday with a national cable TV and radio ad. It will expand to local TV, digital, and radio ads in targeted Senate and House districts over the upcoming weeks.

Americans overwhelmingly support action to lower drug prices. Eighty-six percent of Americans — majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents — support allowing Medicare to negotiate. Americans pay twice as much for prescription drugs as other nations, and nearly 1 in 3 adults report not taking their medicines as prescribed due to cost.

Big Pharma is lobbying furiously to protect its profits, but Congress and the White House need to listen to patients.

This campaign comes on the heels of a campaign in August encouraging the Senate to enact the bipartisan Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act of 2019. That campaign thanked members for supporting reforms and held accountable those who opposed them.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — In response to the news that the Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) released a slate of reforms to lower prescription drug prices for patients and taxpayers, David Mitchell, a cancer patient and the founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now, issued the following statement:

“Americans are demanding action to lower drug prices, and the Senate Finance Committee has taken an important step forward with its proposals today. Most importantly, the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act of 2019 would discourage Big Pharma from increasing the prices of prescription drugs at multiple times the rate of inflation each year. It would also cap seniors’ out of pocket costs in Medicare Part D at $3,100 annually. These changes will help the most vulnerable citizens afford prescription drugs, save taxpayers money, and hold the line on drug price and premium increases.

“The package protects innovation and maintains patient access to innovative drugs. And, by capping increases at the rate of inflation, it ensures that we don’t have to pay huge increases on initial high launch prices of drugs.

“Other elements of the package are significant, including the increase in the rebate cap and limits on spread pricing by PBMs in Medicaid.

“We urge members of the Senate Finance Committee to advance this package. Members of Congress must guard at every turn against changes that would weaken the bill. Voters have given Congress a mandate to lower drug prices, and patients can’t afford to wait any longer.”

BACKGROUND:

While we are encouraged by many of the changes the Senate Finance Committee has proposed, we also have a number of questions and concerns. We are hopeful the Committee will consider changes that:

• Ensure patients benefit from inflation-based rebates in Medicare Part B and D.Under the current draft, if a pharmaceutical manufacturer increases list prices for certain drugs above inflation, drug companies must pay a rebate to HHS and thus the Medicare Supplemental Medical Insurance Trust Fund. We hope the committee will clarify how patients will experience savings from the rebate if a drug company gouges Medicare beneficiaries.
• Avoid burdening state Medicaid programs with extraordinarily expensive drugs. The current problem in our system isn’t Medicaid’s inability to pay for drugs over time — it’s the high price of drugs set by drug corporations. States already have flexibility to implement unique payment models, and the bill (including Section 208) does little to lower the list price of drugs that are bankrupting state Medicaid programs.
• Lower the list price of drugs: The bill could go much further to address the list prices of prescription drugs. America continues to pay two to three times more than other countries for the same prescription drugs because our government does not negotiate to get the best possible deal for citizens, unlike every other developed nation.

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