Latest News | Apr 21, 2022

BIG PHARMA DEBUNK DAY FOUR: OUT-OF-POCKET COSTS

Earlier this week, we debunked pharma’s lies about how drug pricing reforms will hinder innovation and patient access to medications. We also explained how taxpayers played a critical role in funding the research and development of COVID-19 vaccines. See our full campaign to set the record straight on the comprehensive reforms in Congress here.

Today, we’ll address pharma’s false claims about out-of-pocket costs.

Big Pharma’s Lie: Patients only care about lowering out-of-pocket costs. We don’t need comprehensive reforms. 

✅ The Truth: The Truth: We can’t lower out-of-pocket costs without lowering drug prices or we will just wind up paying higher premiums and taxes. We need comprehensive reform.

Watch here.

Summary:

Big Pharma has attempted to create a false dichotomy by claiming patients only want their out-of-pocket costs to go down. That’s simply impossible. In order to lower out-of-pocket costs for patients, we must lower underlying prices, or we will simply pay more in premiums and higher taxes because insurers and federal health plans will make up the difference through cost shifting. Capping out-of-pocket costs without lowering drug prices simply shifts costs – it doesn’t lower them. The Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm is a prominent example of this process: After the manufacturer, Biogen, priced the drug at $56,000 per year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that Medicare Part B premiums would increase by nearly 15 percent the following year — one of the largest increases ever — to accommodate the astronomical cost. Passing the comprehensive drug pricing reforms that include Medicare negotiation will address the headwater of the issue — high list prices — and lead to lower prices and out-of-pocket costs for patients.

Taxpayer Perspective:

High drug prices are a major challenge for small business owners and leaders. In a recent statement, Rhett Buttle, senior advisor for Small Business for America’s Future, explains: “We also need to help small businesses with unreasonable expenses that cut into their bottom line and hinder their growth. … Small business owners identify the cost of healthcare and prescription drug prices as their top concern and strongly support solutions like allowing Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs.”

Nevada teacher and type 1 diabetes patient Jamie Tadrzynski writes in the Las Vegas Sun, “Any proposal that caps the cost of one or more drugs will not fundamentally address the root of the problem, which is rising prices. The government can take action to help seniors and others afford their medicine, but without negotiations that actually stop the drug corporations from charging whatever they want and raising prices at will, cost containment can only have limited impact for a limited number of patients while burdens continue to rise for taxpayers, businesses, and those paying premiums.”

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Earlier this week, we debunked pharma’s lies about how drug pricing reforms will hinder innovation and patient access to medications. Our campaign debunking Big Pharma’s lies and setting the record straight on the comprehensive reforms in Congress is updated each day here

Today, we’ll explain how taxpayers played a critical role in funding the research and development of COVID-19 vaccines.

Big Pharma’s Lie: Drug companies saved us with their COVID-19 vaccines. Cracking down on their prices now could hinder future vaccine and drug development. 

✅ The Truth: Taxpayers saved ourselves. The reforms will ensure this can continue.

Watch here.

Summary:

Taxpayer funding was the engine behind the COVID-19 vaccines, and the package of drug pricing reforms passed by the House will allow the United States to continue leading in drug development while allowing patients to access the medications and vaccines we need at prices we can afford. Taxpayers paved the way for the successful COVID-19 vaccines by investing billions of dollars in research prior to the pandemic and assuming the financial risk after the pandemic began by funding clinical trials, boosting manufacturing capacity, and making advance purchase agreements. Research into the mRNA technology behind the vaccines began decades ago in federally funded labs, and analysts estimate that the U.S. government spent between $18 billion and $23 billion on developing and manufacturing COVID-19 vaccine candidates after the virus emerged. Moderna even admitted that its vaccine was 100 percent funded using federal dollars — in fact, NIH scientists have filed applications for several patents related to the vaccine. 

While drug companies like Pfizer and Moderna try to scare patients by threatening the future of vaccines under the drug pricing reforms, theirexecutives have reaped enormous profits on the COVID-19 vaccines. Pfizer is expected to shatter records with $32 billion in sales this year while Moderna projects $19 billion in sales this year. As COVID-19 is expected to be endemic, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel says the company is preparing to raise prices. To ensure Americans are protected from price gouging on life-saving vaccines, we must pass reforms to limit price hikes to the rate of inflation.

Patient Perspective:

In this New York Times op-ed on the role taxpayers played in developing the COVID-19 vaccines, P4AD founder David Mitchell writes, “Americans should stop buying the pharmaceutical industry’s argument that innovation and new drug development will dry up if the government uses its purchasing power and bargains to get a better deal. The United States spends more per capita than any other wealthy nation for prescription drugs — often the same drugs available for far less overseas. … This year, we can achieve reforms that both advance innovation and ensure Americans can afford the medicines — and vaccines — we need.”

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Yesterday, we explained why it’s just not true that drug pricing reforms under consideration by the Senate will harm development of innovative new drugs. Our campaign debunking Big Pharma’s lies and setting the record straight on the comprehensive reforms in Congress is updated each day here

Today, we’ll debunk the pharmaceutical industry’s lie that reforms will harm patient access to medications.

Big Pharma’s Lie: Drug pricing reforms will make it harder for patients to get their medications. 

✅ The Truth: The biggest barrier to patient access right now is the high prices of drugs. The reforms will increase patient access by lowering prices.

Watch here.

Summary:

The biggest barrier to patient access is high prices – far too many patients across the country struggle to afford their medications. A 2021 survey found that nearly 40 percent of patients did not take their drugs as prescribed due to high costs, and 20 percent of patients took on debt to pay for their medications. It’s estimated that more than 5 million Medicare beneficiaries had trouble affording their medications in 2019, with rates highest among Black and Latino seniors. If current trends continue, 1.1 million beneficiaries could die this decade because they can’t afford the drugs they need. Lower drug prices from Medicare negotiation and limits on price increases would improve medication adherence and people’s health, according to the Congressional Budget Office

The reforms being considered by the Senate would address the high prices driving patients to go without their needed medications and preserve long-standing government policies on drug coverage that protect access. Medicare will continue to be required to cover all drugs in six protected classes and at least two medications in each class of drugs. Medicaid must still cover every drug offered by a manufacturer in the United States if the manufacturer agrees to give Medicaid a best price guarantee. Additionally, even with lower prices, drug companies will continue to file for drug approval first in the United States, given that we are by far the largest market in the world with the highest prices in the world.

Patient Perspective:

Katherine Pepper, a Washington patient who lives with an autoimmune disease, takes Humira, a medication that has a monthly price of $6,409. Katherine writes, “As a senior living on a fixed income, I’ve had to choose between filling my Humira prescription or buying groceries. That’s a decision no one should have to make.” 

Therese Humphrey Ball, an Indiana patient living with multiple sclerosis, shares about a time when she couldn’t access her medication at all because of its price. “In 2017, I was forced to go off of Copaxone entirely because I simply could not pay its $6,000 monthly cost,” she writes. “Without the medication I needed, I began having difficulty with my cognitive function. I work really hard to keep my life in order and my memory intact even with MS, so this was devastating. I lost something that is so valuable to me.” 

Vanessa Ladson, a Delaware patient living with lupus and fibromyalgia, writes, “I am on a fixed income, and I have to scrimp and save just to be able to eat. I can’t afford all of my prescriptions, including the blood thinner Eliquis, which is priced at $500 per month. Instead, I take a cheaper drug that gives me a higher risk of bleeding.”

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P4ADNow Launches “Debunking Big Pharma Week” To Set The Record Straight On Comprehensive Drug Pricing Reforms Now Before The Senate
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As Congress is on the brink of passing comprehensive drug pricing reform for the first time in two decades, Big Pharma continues to spread lies to scare patients and lawmakers in an attempt to maintain its unilateral power to dictate prices of brand-name drugs. This week, Patients For Affordable Drugs Now will debunk five of the industry’s lies about innovation, access, COVID-19 vaccines, out-of-pocket costs, and partisan priorities, and set the record straight with the truth about what the drug pricing reforms would mean for patients. As the Senate returns from recess next week, this campaign aims to arm members of Congress, press, and the public with the tools to counter Big Pharma’s lies so we can get on with the business of passing these historic provisions that will help millions of patients. 

We’ll be updating each day of the campaign here. Here’s day one:

BIG PHARMA DEBUNK DAY ONE: INNOVATION 


Big Pharma’s Lie: Drug pricing reforms will stifle innovation. 

✅ The Truth: We can maintain the innovation we need at prices we can afford.

Watch here.

Summary:

The comprehensive drug pricing reforms before the Senate will bring an end to the pharmaceutical industry’s unilateral power to set and raise prices at will, while maintaining the valuable drug innovation we need. As Big Pharma’s profits have continued to soar, the industry is falsely claiming that these reforms would grind research and development of new drugs to a halt. In reality, the legislative package passed by the House of Representatives would only decrease the number of new drugs over the next 30 years by 10 out of 1,300 expected new drugs – that’s less than 1 percent. Further, only 10 to 15 percent of new drugs are truly innovative in the first place. Any biopharmaceutical industry revenue lost from the proposed drug price reforms would only be a drop in the bucket for an industry with profits that are almost three times the average of the S&P 500. 

The truth is, the drug pricing package continues to incentivize the industry to find new, innovative drugs in the same way we do now by allowing drug companies to set launch prices and giving new drugs nine to 13 years before becoming eligible for Medicare negotiation. The provisions protect special incentives to develop rare disease treatments and continue to reward pharmaceutical innovation.

Patient Perspective: 

Don Kreis’ daughter, Rose, lives with a type of cystic fibrosis for which the current breakthrough medications don’t work. Rose is still waiting for her miracle drug, but Don fears when it comes to market, Big Pharma will price it out of reach. “When a new drug comes to market, will she be able to even consider taking it? No one cares more about innovation than us — but these drugs are worthless if Rose can’t afford them,” he writes

Kris Garcia, who lives with four bleeding disorders, asthma, and several allergies, explained in a recent op-ed in The Colorado Sun that, “We do not have to choose between innovation and lower drug prices. We can and will have both once the Senate passes these reforms through reconciliation.” Each vial of his medication, Humate-P, is priced at $10,000, and for each infusion, he needs four vials. “For me, these reforms would help bring predictability and consistency to my drug prices.”

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Big Pharma And Its Allies Will Spread Lies To Oppose Reforms — Here’s What To Look Out For

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Senate Committee on Finance will hold a hearing tomorrow at 10:00 AM ET on the need to pass comprehensive drug pricing reforms, including Medicare negotiation. The hearing, “Prescription Drug Price Inflation: An Urgent Need to Lower Drug Prices in Medicare,” takes place as the Senate considers the drug pricing reforms already passed by the House of Representatives. Opponents of these reforms are expected to shepherd Big Pharma’s talking points with false claims about innovation, access, and Big Pharma’s investment in COVID-19 vaccines. Here’s a roundup of what to look out for, how these reforms will help patients, and the momentum to get it done: 

Big Pharma Fear-Mongering

  1. Innovation Lies: Big Pharma claims that Medicare negotiation will stifle innovation, lead to fewer drugs coming to market, and devastate pharma revenue, jeopardizing jobs and R&D investment.
    • The Truth: The impact on innovation under the BBB provisions would be negligible to non-existent. The CBO score of the BBB provisions found that Americans would forgo just 10 out of 1,300 drugs over the next 30 years — and there’s no indication that any of the drugs lost would be innovative cures, as only 1 in 8 new drugs generates a new therapeutic benefit. The pharmaceutical industry is in no danger of being in financial jeopardy. Large, brand-name drug corporations could lose $1 trillion in sales over a decade and still be the most profitable industry in the United States. 
  2. Access Lies: Big Pharma claims that reforms would reduce access to life-saving drugs and put Washington bureaucrats in between patients and their medications.
    • The Truth: The biggest barrier to patient access is high prices. Right now, 1 in 3 adults do not take their medication as prescribed due to cost, and it is the most common reason given for not filling a prescription. The drug price reforms being considered by the Senate will increase access to drugs and save lives by reducing prices. Right now, pharma CEOs are the ones standing in between patients and their drugs because they are responsible for the high prices that keep medications out of reach.
  3. COVID-19 Lies: Big Pharma claims that reforms would devastate the profits of an industry that just saved us from COVID-19.
    • The Truth: Taxpayers laid the scientific foundation for our most effective COVID-19 vaccines. Drug companies only got involved after the promise of a handsome, risk-free profit. Since the beginning of the pandemic, over $18 billion in public funds has been invested into vaccine candidates, mitigating the financial risk and accelerating development. Pfizer and Moderna are expected to rake in $51 billion from their COVID-19 vaccines in 2022 following record-breaking revenue from Pfizer’s vaccine in 2021. COVID-19 vaccine sales have created nine new billionaires.

How Drug Pricing Reforms Will Help Patients 
The drug price provisions under consideration will, for the first time, authorize Medicare to negotiate prices directly for some of the most expensive prescription medicines; institute a hard cap on out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries and limit copays on insulin for millions of Americans to $35 each month; and limit annual price increases to stop price gouging by drug corporations. 

If the drug pricing crisis goes unaddressed, millions of patients will be denied access to prescriptions they need to survive, and the drug industry will be left with unilateral power to dictate prices for brand-name drugs — something no other nation in the world allows. Without action, we are effectively mandating that American patients continue to pay almost four times what patients in other countries pay for the same brand-name drugs. Acting on reforms is a health equity imperative — non-white patients are disproportionately harmed by rising drug prices.

Momentum To Get It Done
The momentum is here – in his State of the Union address, President Biden called for lowering drug prices as a key part of his plan to lower costs for Americans, and Senator Manchin followed the president’s call by saying he is ready to come to the table and pass drug pricing reforms in a reconciliation bill. The full Democratic caucus has endorsed the deal to lower drug prices. Key members continue to emphasize that lowering drug prices will address high and rising costs and are encouraging the caucus to move forward with the comprehensive drug price provisions, including Medicare negotiation

Rising prices are understandably a top concern for American families. Addressing drug prices will put more money back in the pockets of patients and their loved ones by helping curb inflation. Additionally, lowering drug prices is a top midterm issue for more than 90 percent of voters. If Congress fails to pass reforms, 3 out of 4 voters say it will impact their vote in November. 

The Senate Finance Committee hearing on drug pricing will include witnesses Rena M. Conti, Ph.D., Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Ph.D., Stephen Ezell, and Steffany Stern, M.P.P. Watch tomorrow at 10:00 AM ET here

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Groups Representing Patients, Consumers, Seniors, Unions, Small Businesses, Large Employers, And Physicians And Disease Advocacy Groups Align On Rx Reforms In BBB Act 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the Senate considers the terms of a reconfigured reconciliation package, 91 organizations representing patients, consumers, seniors, unions, small businesses, large employers, and physicians and disease advocacy groups sent a letter to all 50 Senate Democrats urging them to take immediate action to advance a reconciliation package that includes the reforms to lower prescription drug prices in the Build Back Better Act. 

“These drug pricing reforms are not controversial for the people of America; they are the most popular element of BBB. Over 80 percent of Americans support them — Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike,” 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. “The provisions before the Senate will help restore balance to ensure patients get the innovation they need at prices they can afford. All 50 Senate Democrats support the legislation; this is Congress’ chance to deliver on years of promises. This opportunity won’t come again soon.”

“Millions of AARP members have told us they are sick of Big Pharma ripping them off by charging three times more for medicines in the U.S.,” said Nancy A. LeaMond, Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy and Engagement Officer at AARP. “Congress has an historic opportunity to finally bring down the price of prescription drugs and help address the impacts of inflation. Voters are watching, and they are tired of waiting for Congress to act.”

Just last week, 40 House Democrats sent a letter to congressional leadership calling on their colleagues to lower drug prices by passing the drug pricing reforms already agreed to in the Build Back Better Act. 

The drug price provisions under consideration 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 copays on insulin for millions of Americans to $35 each month; and limit annual price increases to stop price gouging by drug corporations. 

“If Congress lets the pharmaceutical industry overcharge Americans and dictate astronomical prices for brand-name drugs in our country, then patients, workers, employers, and taxpayers will continue to shoulder the burden of prices that are nearly three times what people in other comparable nations pay,” the letter reads. “These reforms are long overdue. We urge swift action. Now is the time to get the job done.”

Read the full letter and list of signers here and below.
February 7, 2022
 
Dear Senator,
 
On behalf of more than 90 organizations representing patients, consumers, seniors, unions, small businesses, large employers, physicians, and disease advocacy groups, we urge the Senate to immediately advance a reconciliation package that includes the reforms to lower prescription drug prices agreed to in the Build Back Better Act.
 
Rising prices are a top concern for American families and employers. Even as we approach the third year of a pandemic, drug companies began the new year by hiking the prices of almost 750 life-saving and life-sustaining medications, undeterred by the financial hardship and health challenges facing Americans today.
 
If Congress lets the pharmaceutical industry overcharge Americans and dictate astronomical prices for brand-name drugs in our country, then patients, workers, employers, and taxpayers will continue to shoulder the burden of prices that are nearly three times what people in other comparable nations pay. Congress has repeatedly promised to address this problem, and the American people need the help now more than ever.
 
Right now, you have a time-limited opportunity to deliver relief to millions of Americans by permitting Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices, capping copays and out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries, and limiting annual price increases on life-saving and life-sustaining drugs to the rate of inflation for all Americans. More than 80 percent of Americans support these reforms — Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike. They are the most popular element of the Build Back Better Act. In the face of slim margins in the Senate, the current path to pass all of these critical reforms is through reconciliation. These reforms already have the support of all 50 Senate Democrats. Congress can pass these drug pricing reforms in short order and move the nation in a new direction, providing savings to patients, taxpayers, workers, employers, and the federal and state governments.
 
Enacting the drug price reforms agreed upon in the Build Back Better package will mark a truly historic shift in U.S. drug pricing policy. Not only will it break the pharmaceutical industry’s unilateral power to dictate prices to the American people, it will save lives, improve health, fight inflation, and put more money back into the pockets of American seniors, workers, and businesses.
 
These reforms are long overdue. We urge swift action. Now is the time to get the job done.


Signed:

AARP
AFL-CIO
AFSCME
Alliance for Retired Americans
American Academy of Neurology
American Federation of Teachers
American Medical Student Association
Americans for Democratic Action, Southern California
Be a Hero
Blue Shield of California
Centennial State Prosperity
Center for American Progress
Center for Medicare Advocacy
Center for Popular Democracy
Citizen Action of Wisconsin
Colorado Consumer Health Initiative
Communications Workers of America (CWA)
Community Catalyst
Consumer Action
COVID Survivors for Change
Doctors for America
Economic Alliance for Michigan
Families USA
Florida #insulin4all
Florida Alliance for Healthcare Value
Generation Patient 
Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health
Health Access California
Health Action New Mexico
Health Care For All Massachusetts
Health Care Voices
Health Care Voter
Honest Arizona
Houston Business Coalition on Health
Indivisible
Initiative for Medicines, Access, & Knowledge (I-MAK)
Insulin For Life
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW)
Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action
Justice in Aging
Kentuckiana Health Collaborative
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
KS Business Group on Health
Lehigh Valley Business Coalition on Healthcare (LVBCH)
Little Lobbyists
Lower Drug Prices Now (LDPN)
Main Street Alliance
Maine Consumers for Affordable Health Care
Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative
Massachusetts #insulin4all Chapter
Medicare Rights Center
Metro New York Health Care for All
Midwest Business Group on Health
MomsRising
Montana Association of Health Care Purchasers
National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions
National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare 
National Education Association
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
Nevada Business Group on Health
New Jersey Citizen Action
North Carolina Business Group on Health
Our Revolution
Patients For Affordable Drugs Now
Pennsylvania Health Access Network
People’s Action
Pittsburgh Business Group on Health
PrEP4All
Prescription Justice
Progressive Democrats of America
Protect Our Care
Public Citizen 
Purchaser Business Group on Health
Rhode Island Business Group on Health
Salud y Fármacos
SEIU
Silicon Valley Employers Forum
Social Security Works
T1International
TakeAction Minnesota
Tennessee Health Care Campaign
The Alliance (WI, IL and IA)
UnidosUS Action Fund
UNITE HERE
United Mine Workers of America
United States of Care
Washington Health Alliance
WellOK – The Northeastern Oklahoma Business Coalition
West Health Institute 


Cc: 
The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President of the United States
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
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“No More Excuses. Let Medicare Negotiate. Now.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now released a new video featuring patients from across the country demanding that Congress follow through on promises to lower drug prices by passing the reforms in the Build Back Better Act. The two-minute video, titled “Patient Voices From Across America: A Message To Congress,” features 11 patient advocates who explain the personal impact of high drug prices and why Congress must move forward with the drug pricing reforms that will deliver relief to patients like them. 

“Now Congress is finally poised to let Medicare negotiate,” Kris, a patient from Denver who lives with four bleeding disorders, including hemophilia, says in the video. “It’s the most popular feature of the Build Back Better Act. More than 80 percent of Americans support it,” Marcus, from Cincinnati, who lives with type 1 diabetes, continues. Therese, from Ogden Dunes, Indiana, who lives with multiple sclerosis, adds, “We need Congress to finally stand up to the big drug companies and get it done.” Jacquie, from Waterloo, Iowa, who lives with Crohn’s disease, concludes, “We’ve never been closer. Don’t let this moment slip away.”  

The drug price provisions currently under consideration by the Senate 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 on insulin copays for millions of patients; and limit annual drug price increases to stop price gouging by drug corporations. 

The final image of the video reads, “Stop Price Gouging. Lower Out-Of-Pocket. Let Medicare Negotiate. Now.” 

P4ADNow started off the year by releasing two ads, one in Washington, D.C., and one in West Virginia, calling on members of Congress to pass a reconciliation package including the already negotiated drug pricing reforms from the Build Back Better Act. P4ADNow also sent a joint letter with AARP emphasizing that the Senate must pass the landmark drug pricing reforms. A new report from P4AD takes a closer look at the drug industry’s price hikes and its impact on patients, underscoring the urgent need for Congress to act.

Read the video transcript below and watch the full video here. Patients are available to speak with press upon request.
TRANSCRIPT:

Eighteen years ago, pharma won a sweetheart deal that prohibits Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices. – Jacquie Persson

As a result, we’re paying almost four times what other nations pay for the same brand-name drugs. – Kami Guiden

I’ve had to ration my drugs and go without because the price is so high. No American should have to do that. – Iesha Meza

Now Congress is finally poised to let Medicare negotiate, but the only way to pass it is with 50 votes through reconciliation. – Kris Garcia

We’re so close. – Clayton McCook

It’s the most popular feature of the Build Back Better Act. More than 80 percent of Americans support it. – Marcus LaCour

Any reconciliation deal must include it. – Kris Garcia

Lily will need insulin for the rest of her life. We need the reforms in Build Back Better to cap insulin copays for millions of people with diabetes. – Clayton McCook

I’m on Medicare, and capping out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 will help me and millions of other patients. – Maureen Iten

Pharma jacks up prices every year. Limiting price increases to the rate of inflation would really help me. – Meg Jackson-Drage

Congress has talked and talked. Now’s the time to get it done. – Lauren Stanford

The votes are there. It can happen. The only thing in the way is opposition from Big Pharma. – Sheldon Armus

We need Congress to finally stand up to the big drug companies and get it done. – Therese Ball

Drug price reform must be included in any reconciliation package. – Iesha Meza

No more excuses. – Maureen Iten

No more political games. – Clayton McCook

Stop price gouging, lower out-of-pocket, and let Medicare negotiate. – Kami Guiden

We’ve never been closer. Don’t let this moment slip away. – Jacquie Persson
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TV Ad Features Three Patient Advocates: “Americans Can’t Wait Any Longer”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now launched a new video ad today calling on Congress to include the previously negotiated reforms that lower drug prices in any final reconciliation package. The 30-second video ad is running in Washington, D.C., and features three patient advocates: Therese Ball of Indiana, Kris Garcia of Colorado, and Iesha Meza of Arizona. In addition, the campaign includes digital static ads in D.C. as well as grassroots advocacy in key states, where patients call their senators and ask for their support on the current drug price provisions. 

The video ad opens with Therese, who lives with multiple sclerosis. “The medications I need to live are priced at over $7,000 every month,” she says. “Millions of Americans can’t afford the medicines they need to survive,” continues Iesha, who lives with type 1 diabetes and depends on insulin. Kris, who lives with multiple bleeding disorders, including hemophilia, adds, “Congress needs to let Medicare negotiate lower drug prices for us.”

“The landmark drug price provisions negotiated painstakingly over several months and included in the Build Back Better plan remain the top priority for Americans and are overwhelmingly supported by more than 80 percent of voters – Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike,” 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. “This legislation will save lives, lower prices, and fight inflation by holding the line on premiums and health care costs for patients, employers, employees, and taxpayers. Failure is not an option – we need Congress to pass these historic reforms in any reconciliation package that is finally agreed to.”

The ads launch as the Senate reconvenes to continue negotiations around the reconciliation package. The drug price provisions under consideration 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. 

“Any reconciliation package must include reforms that lower drug prices,” the video ad concludes. “Americans can’t wait any longer.”

Watch the full ad here and view the digital ads below. 

P4ADNow also launched a new radio ad today in West Virginia calling on Senator Manchin to support the reconciliation package to allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. All recent P4ADNow ads can be found here

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