ICYMI: Bush, Sanders, Khanna, Doggett & Welch Introduce Sweeping Legislation to Lower Drug Prices
ST. LOUIS, MO – Congresswoman Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Congressmen Ro Khanna, (D-Calif.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), along with more than two dozen colleagues, on Tuesday, introduced sweeping legislation to drastically reduce the cost of prescription drugs in the United States.
The package of bills includes: The Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs under Medicare Part D; The Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act to allow patients, pharmacists and wholesalers to import safe, affordable medicine from Canada and other major countries; and The Prescription Drug Price Relief Act to peg the price of prescription drugs in the United States to the median price in Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan.
“St. Louis sent me to Congress to save lives,” said Congresswoman Bush. “As a nurse, I’ve seen firsthand the harmful effects of patients not being able to afford their lifesaving medications. Today, with the introduction of this legislative package, we are standing up for the millions of people who are forced to ration their medicine or suffer in silence because of the inhumane, immoral, and inescapable cost of prescription medications. I am grateful to join Sen. Sanders and Reps. Doggett, Khanna, and Welch in the effort to stop massive drug companies from putting profits over the lives of regular, everyday people.”
“The United States pays by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. This is an immediate health crisis that must be addressed,” said Senator Sanders, who is today chairing a Senate subcommittee hearing on the issue. “That is why I am reintroducing legislation to drastically reduce prescription drug prices in the United States. The time is now to stand up to the pharmaceutical industry and say enough is enough. The greed of drug companies is out of control and the cost is human lives.”
The measures are overwhelmingly supported by the American people. Seventy-two percent of Americans favor allowing the importation of prescription drugs from Canada, 92% of the American people support allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, and 79% percent of Americans say the price of prescription drugs is too high.
The Prescription Drug Price Relief Act, if enacted, would lower most brand name drug prices in the United States by 50%, according to economist Dean Baker. Additionally, the U.S. government could save close to $360 billion over 10 years if Medicare negotiated the same prices for drugs as people in Canada pay, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Last month, a report released by the Congressional Budget Office, commissioned by Sanders, found that on average Medicare Part D pays nearly three times more for brand-name drugs than Medicaid.
In 2020, five of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. made $44.9 billion in profits. That same year, in the midst of a horrific pandemic and economic crisis, drug makers raised their prices of more than 860 prescription drugs by 5%, on average. Meanwhile, one in four Americans cannot afford their medicine.
In Canada and other major countries, the same medications, manufactured by the same companies in the same factories, are available for a fraction of the price compared to the United States. In 2019, Americans spent $1,128 per person on prescription drugs while Canadians spent $879 and people in the U.K. spent $526.
For a summary of The Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act, click here. For full text, click here.
For a summary of The Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act, click here. For full text, click here.
For a summary of The Prescription Drug Price Relief Act, click here. For full text, click here.
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Congresswoman Cori Bush represents Missouri’s First Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. She serves on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. She is also a Deputy Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and a proud member of the Congressional Black Caucus. She is a registered nurse, single mother, and an ordained pastor. Following the murder of Michael Brown Jr. by a now-terminated Ferguson police officer, she became a civil rights activist and community organizer fighting for justice for Black lives on the streets of Missouri and across the country.