Hill Democrats Get Tough on Big Pharma, Prescription Drug Prices
Elections have consequences, and one positive consequence of the midterms is that the new House majority is serious about reducing drug prices for seniors. Last week, Democrats introduced legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate prices directly with pharmaceutical companies. This week, the new chairman of a key House committee, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), announced an investigation into skyrocketing drug costs.
“It’s time to provide much-needed relief to the American people. They should not have to decide between paying their bills or paying for their prescriptions. We need real and immediate action to lower drug prices in this country. The American people deserve that, and I will do everything I can to help deliver that for them.” – Rep. Elijah Cummings
Cummings has just sent letters to 12 large drug companies demanding details and documents about the companies’ pricing practices. They include industry giants like AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, and Pfizer, whose profits and CEO compensations are – to say the least – quite healthy.
Despite tepid pleas from the Trump administration, Big Pharma hiked the prices of hundreds of medications at the beginning of the year. According to Cummings’ office, some 94% of the most often prescribed brand-name drugs more than doubled in price between 2005 and 2017.
Meanwhile, the percentage of Medicare Part D beneficiaries who paid at least $2,000 out-of-pocket for prescriptions nearly doubled from 2011 to 2015.
Source: AARP Progressive Policy Institute
Seniors living on fixed incomes are the least able to afford rising drug prices. The average Medicare beneficiary has about $25,000 in annual income, which is only 200% of the federal poverty level. Too many seniors still must choose between groceries and prescription drugs – or cutting pills in half to save money.
This is not lost on Congressman Cummings and like-minded elected leaders on Capitol Hill. Rep. Cummings and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) rolled out an ambitious package of bills last week that could make a serious dent in drug prices:
- The Prescription Drug Price Relief Act, which would peg the price of prescription drugs in the United States to the median price in five major countries: Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan;
- The Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act, which would direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs under Medicare Part D;
- The Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act, which would allow patients, pharmacists and wholesalers to import safe, affordable medicine from Canada and other major countries.
If enacted, these bills would save Americans and the federal government billions of dollars in prescription drug costs. In fact, Stat news reported that the government could have saved more than $14 billion on the 50 most frequently prescribed medications in 2016 if Medicare were able to negotiate prices with Big Pharma like the Department of Veterans Affairs does.
There are myriad other proposals to bring down drug prices, recapped nicely by Dylan Scott in Vox earlier this week. These include measures to expedite the production of lower-priced generic drugs, cap patients’ out-of-pocket costs, allow the government to manufacture certain medications, and reform the U.S. patent system. “The current proposals on the table range from the realistic to the purely aspirational,” Scott observes. “Drug prices are a thorny problem. What we do know for sure is people want something done.”
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Watch our discussion about prescription drug prices on “Behind the Headlines” on Facebook Live.
Congress Moves to Tackle Prescription Drug Prices
While the government shutdown rightly dominates the headlines, there is activity on Capitol Hill to address another urgent issue: rising prescription drug prices. At the beginning of the year, the Wall Street Journal reported that more than three dozen pharmaceutical companies hiked the prices of hundreds of medicines, despite the Trump administration’s pleas that they be lowered. Rising drug prices continue to pummel the pocketbooks of seniors living on fixed incomes. Too many older Americans are still having to choose between groceries and medicine – or cutting pills in half.
But the tide may be turning. Champions of seniors are assuming powerful committee chairmanships in the House of Representatives. Momentum is building for legislation – some of it solidly bipartisan – that would help bring prescription drug prices under control. In other words, the new Congress may begin to stand up to Big Pharma:
Hope is strong among health-care advocates and lawmakers that 2019 could be the year Congress and the executive branch finally make significant moves against the powerful prescription drug industry, after long acknowledging a need for action but doing little about it. – Washington Post, 1/7/19
Members of the new 116th Congress are introducing bills to bring seniors some relief at the pharmacy counter. On Thursday, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) unveiled legislation that would, among other things, direct the Medicare program to negotiate prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. (The U.S. Veterans Administration has been doing it for years.) Congressional Democrats estimate that these negotiations would save Medicare beneficiaries at least $15 billion a year.
On the House side, Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) will re-introduce similar legislation. (With the Democratic takeover of the House, Doggett is expected to become chairman of the influential House Ways and Means health subcommittee.) His bill would allow the Secretary of Health & Human Services to directly negotiate prices for prescription drugs. If negotiations were to fail, Doggett’s bill would empower the HHS Secretary to issue a competitive license allowing other manufacturers to produce the drug for Medicare.
The Hill reports that the new House leadership, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) support allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices.
Momentum also appears to be gathering for legislation affecting generic drugs. Big pharmaceutical companies have long engaged in anti-competitive behavior to keep lower cost generic drugs off the market. The bipartisan CREATES Act would make it harder for brand name drug-makers to impede cheaper generic competition. According to The Hill, the CREATES Act enjoys the support of many Republicans, including Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the new chair of the Senate Finance Committee.
While Senator Grassley is on the wrong side of the Medicare price negotiation issue, he has joined forces with Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) on the Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Act. The bill would prohibit “pay-for-delay” deals where pharmaceutical companies pay producers of generic drugs to delay rolling out those medications.
On the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, President Trump (who said in 2017 that drug companies were “getting away with murder”) has proposed some administrative measures to lower drug prices. Unfortunately, most of these have been weak tea – and seemingly designed not to offend Big Pharma. Instead of waiting to see if the Trump administration will do more than nibble around the edges of the problem, many in the new Congress appear ready to try to alleviate the pain of soaring prescription drug prices.
New Alzheimer’s Funding is a Good Start, but ‘BOLDer’ Action is Needed
In the waning hours of 2018, President Trump signed into law a bipartisan bill to boost federal efforts to address the Alzheimer’s epidemic that impacts some 5.7 million Americans and their families. The BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act provides $100 million in new funding and “restates priorities” in the fight against a disease that’s aptly been called “The Long Goodbye.”
The BOLD Act was cosponsored by Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV):
“The… Act will improve early detection and diagnosis, provide assistance for caregivers and educate the public on Alzheimer’s disease and brain health. This bipartisan legislation is the first step in addressing [this] ongoing public health crisis…” – Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto, BOLD Act co-sponsor
The National Committee, which fights for the financial and health security of America’s seniors, endorsed the bill to confront Alzheimer’s (whose victims are mostly over 65 years of age).
“The BOLD Act would create a public health infrastructure to implement effective interventions to combat Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias including prevention, early detection and diagnosis and treatment.” – National Committee letter endorsing BOLD Act, 5/2/18
While it’s commendable that a bipartisan group of Senators sponsored the bill and that President Trump signed the BOLD ACT into law, defeating the Alzheimer’s epidemic will require much, much more. One-hundred million dollars in new spending over 5 years is a small step forward, and advocates for Alzheimer’s victims are right to celebrate. But federal funding for Alzheimer’s research continues to fall short of what is needed to invest in an aggressive and intensive research strategy to develop effective treatment and, hopefully, a cure.
Estimated federal spending on Alzheimer’s research was some $1.8 billion in 2018, compared to President Trump’s demand for $5.6 billion for his border wall. His administration’s Fiscal Year 2019 budget called for a freeze in biomedical research. A significant shift towards disease research priorities is urgently needed.
Alzheimer’s is a fatal scourge deserving considerably higher funding. It is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States, felling more Americans than breast and prostate cancer combined. A startling one in three seniors dies with Alzheimer’s or other form of dementia. By 2050, the disease is expected to claim 14 million victims – almost three times the number of Alzheimer’s patients today.
The disease also poses a direct threat to Medicare and Medicaid. In 2018, the two programs spent an estimated $186 billion caring for beneficiaries with Alzheimer’s and other dementias – representing nearly 70 percent of total costs. “By 2050, combined Medicare and Medicaid spending on patients with Alzheimer’s is expected to quadruple to $750 billion (in today’s dollars),” according to the nonprofit Alzheimer’s Impact Movement. This is an enormous financial burden for Medicare and Medicaid, which seniors’ advocates are already fighting to strengthen in the face of conservatives’ demands for benefit cuts.
Source: Alzheimer’s Impact Movement
The nearly six million Americans suffering from Alzheimer’s, along with their families and caregivers, rightly expect an increased funding commitment from the federal government. The beginning of the 116th Congress – with its fresh faces and new leadership – presents an opportunity to build on the BOLD Act and put more brain power into the fight. It’s time for our national leadership to muster the political will to defeat Alzheimer’s before the grim estimates for the future become reality.
Seniors Were Big Winners in House Elections
Voters have put champions of Social Security and Medicare back in control of the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in 8 years. Candidates who promised to protect and expand seniors’ earned benefits scored victories in races across the country, including many endorsed by the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.
“This is a victory for seniors and their families who have seen their earned benefits threatened time and again under Republican control of the House. The election results mean that Congress can cast aside the tired trope of ‘entitlement reform’ (code for cutting benefits), and work vigorously to boost Social Security and Medicare for current and future retirees. The new majority will serve as a firewall against further attempts to slash Medicaid and repeal or sabotage the Affordable Care Act – and challenge President Trump to fulfill his campaign promises to protect Social Security and Medicare.” – Max Richtman, National Committee President and CEO
Legislation to protect and expand seniors’ earned benefits can now receive serious consideration in the 116th Congress after languishing under Republican control. This includes Rep. John Larson’s Social Security 2100 Act, which would increase benefits and keep the system solvent for the rest of the century – and several other bills supported by the National Committee to boost Social Security and Medicare.
When the new Congress convenes in January, Congressman Larson (D-CT) likely will assume the chairmanship of the House Social Security Subcommittee. Another champion of Social Security and Medicare, Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA), is expected to wield the gavel in the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, while Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) probably will head the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicare.
“We will work with the new House leadership and members to give retirees a much-needed raise in their earned benefits – and defend seniors from demands that Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid be slashed to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations. This is a tremendous opportunity to restore American values of fairness and compassion – including caring for the sick and elderly – to the people’s house.” – Max Richtman, National Committee President and CEO
Don’t be Fooled by GOP Posturing on Pre-Existing Conditions
The Republican candidate for the open Senate seat in Arizona, Martha McSally, probably speaks for other GOP contenders across the country when she says, “I’m getting my a– kicked” on the issue of health care. Congresswoman McSally has been hammered by her Democratic opponent, Krysten Sinema, for twice voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which, among many benefits, protects Americans with pre-existing conditions from denials of coverage and punitive premiums.
“Now locked in a competitive statewide Senate race against Democrat Kyrsten Sinema, McSally finds herself blistered by campaign attack ads and having to explain her past votes and current views on health care and the Affordable Care Act, which has grown in popularity in recent years. About 20 million more Americans gained health insurance after the act passed.” – Arizona Republic, 10/29/18
With more than 70% of voters telling pollsters health care is a crucial issue in the mid-term elections, Republican candidates like McSally have been selling themselves as protectors of patients with pre-existing conditions – when they and the Trump administration have spent the past two years trying to obliterate protections that Democrats like Sinema truly support:
“Before the Affordable Care Act, we know many, many people could not get health insurance because they had some sort of condition like diabetes, asthma, heart disease… Someone very close to me filed for bankruptcy over medical bills because of this issue.” – Krysten Sinema, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Arizona
“Republicans are not really interested in this project, but they know the voters really want [health care], so they’re trying to pretend to support it when they don’t,” author and journalist Jonathan Cohn told MSNBC today. Republicans are “trying to rewrite history… brazenly,” he said.
When Trump and the GOP failed by a thin margin to repeal the Affordable Care Act, they began sabotaging the law. The administration reneged on Affordable Care Act payments to keep insurance markets stable, failed to provide adequate public outreach during open enrollment periods, and changed the rules to allow the sale of skimpier policies that don’t protect pre-existing conditions. Congress passed the Trump/GOP tax cuts, which neutralized the Affordable Care Act insurance mandate – further weakening the law.
Twenty Republican state attorneys general filed a lawsuit arguing that the zeroing-out of the Obamacare mandate should render the entire law null. One of them is Missouri attorney general Josh Hawley, who seeks to unseat Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill. He had the audacity to claim that he supports protections for pre-existing conditions while being party to a lawsuit that would erase them.
In Florida, Governor Rick Scott has displayed similar hypocrisy in his bid for Bill Nelson’s Senate seat:
“Scott, in a tight race, desperately launched a last-minute ad campaign declaring his support for protections for people with preexisting conditions — despite trying to kill Obamacare for years.” – Washington Post, 10/26/18
President Trump has set a problematic example for Republican Congressional candidates by twisting the truth for partisan ends. He claims that Republicans – not Democrats – will protect Social Security and Medicare, despite proposing budgets that would slash both programs by billions of dollars over ten years. The President spreads the myth that Republicans will protect people with pre-existing conditions, despite being the saboteur-in-chief of the Affordable Care Act.
The President, McSally, Hawley, Scott and other Republicans should not count on voters having amnesia about GOP actions to undermine the Affordable Care Act, before they suddenly became ‘champions’ of pre-existing conditions for the mid-terms. Americans remember the relentless late night votes for Obamacare repeal bills (the American Health Care Act, the Better Care Reconciliation Act, the ‘Skinny Repeal’) that the GOP pursued like a dog with a bone, and thankfully lost. They remember the Trump/GOP tax scam that neutered the insurance mandate at the heart of the Affordable Care Act. Voters know which party has fought for people with pre-existing conditions and which one simply postures while trying to gut affordable health care for all Americans.
“Anybody even dimly aware of recent history ― specifically, the part where Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act, only to have Republicans spend eight years trying to repeal it ― should recognize the claim as a lie… GOP leaders have already made clear that they will try once again to repeal the health care law if they can.” – Huffington Post, 10/25/18
It’s true. While many GOP candidates cling to the falsehood that they support protections for pre-existing conditions, party leaders have hinted that they may renew their attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act after the midterms. That’s just one more reason not to trust the current majority with the future of Americans’ health care. Of all the issues in the coming election, none goes to Americans’ fundamental well-being like this one. At some point in their lives, most voters will have pre-existing medical conditions – and won’t want to be locked out of coverage or pay exorbitant premiums. That’s why it’s so important to separate the health care charlatans from the health care champions, and vote accordingly.