Seventeen Groups Concerned About Out-Of-Control Drug Prices Urge Congress To Protect Seniors, Reject Big Pharma Bailout During Lame Duck

For Immediate Release
Contact: Lauren Blair
(201) 213-5004
[email protected]

Washington, D.C. – The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP) led 17 groups committed to lowering drug prices in sending a letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), urging them to preserve the actions Congress took in the Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) of 2018 to protect seniors and taxpayers from out-of-control drug prices during the upcoming lame duck session of Congress.

As Bloomberg News reported, drug manufacturers are already lobbying Congress to undo these important, cost-saving protections, actively working to protect their bottom line at the expense of Medicare beneficiaries, who could see their out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs skyrocket, while Big Pharma gets a multi-billion dollar windfall.

In the letter, the groups wrote:

“[I]t is critical that Congress keep in place the important policies enacted in the BBA that help lower high out-of-pocket prescription drug costs, particularly for those facing the highest cost burdens. As such, we urge you to stand with Medicare beneficiaries and taxpayers to resist any attempts from the pharmaceutical industry to undo these critical reforms during the lame duck session.”

They added:

“Prescription drug prices will continue to increase at unsustainable rates unless Congress holds the pharmaceutical industry accountable for putting profits before people. Conversely, agreeing to a bailout for the pharmaceutical industry – at the expense of patients and taxpayers – during the lame duck session will send the exact opposite message, particularly at a time when drug prices remain needlessly high and unaffordable for too many patients.”

To read the full letter click HERE.