A preliminary analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) finds that the core provision of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) signature bill to lower drug prices would save Medicare $345 billion between 2023 and 2029.
Democrats quickly touted the projected savings to show that their bill would effectively lower drug prices.
via The Hill.
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Who’s to blame for high health care costs? More than half of those with employer insurance say pharmaceutical and health insurance companies deserve “a lot of blame.”
via Kaiser Health News.
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We speak on this issue in our newest blog: Medicare Must Be Allowed to Negotiate Drug Prices.
Senator Klobuchar insisted that by allowing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate drug prices for Medicare, costs would eventually fall for patients of all ages. Klobuchar has introduced legislation in the Senate to lift the ban on Medicare negotiating with Big Pharma. The bill already has more than 30 cosponsors, but cannot pass without Republican support.
via twitter.
Related Reading:
Options for Implementing Medicare Drug Negotiation.
At a time when policymakers are seeking ways to lower the federal deficit and overall health care spending, proposals that reduce Medicare prescription drug costs cannot be overlooked.
Hill Democrats Get Tough on Big Pharma, Prescription 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…
Nancy Koch knows physical pain. She has a chronic auto immune disease, that won’t get better and is most likely only going to get worse. To help keep her body functioning, Koch takes medication, the catch is that it costs $4,000 a month.
Koch is not alone, when it comes to the exceedingly high cost of medication. Last week, AARP and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare held a town hall meeting, the first in its new campaign “Don’t Cut Pills, Cut Profits.”
via Milwaukee Courier.
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You can read more about our “Don’t Cut Pills, Cut Profits” campaign by clicking here.
Even as the impeachment battle rumbled, senior White House and Democratic aides sat down Tuesday to discuss details of drug pricing legislation, officials on both sides said.
Passing a law to curb prescription drug prices remains a top policy priority for President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, despite her decision to launch an impeachment inquiry into the president’s efforts to get a foreign leader to investigate political rival Joe Biden.
Both sides stressed they were not negotiating during Tuesday’s meeting at the White House, but instead were exchanging information and asking questions. Joe Grogan, a top domestic policy adviser to Trump, called it “a very cordial and productive working session.”
via Associated Press.
Related Reading:
Medicare Must Be Allowed to Negotiate Drug Prices.
People are dying — or their quality of life is poor — because high drug prices are forcing seniors to go without life-saving medications. It’s time to end pharma’s drug price gouging. It’s time to stop forcing seniors to cut their pills in half or skip a dose. That’s why the National Committee urges the Senate to approve legislation that would allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices.
Medicare spent $97 billion on prescription drugs in 2014, accounting for more than a quarter of the nation’s spending on prescription medicines. Those numbers are expected to continue rising in coming years, as spending on the Part D benefit accelerates. Policymakers have put a number of proposals on the table to reduce the growth in Medicare drug spending and costs for beneficiaries, including a controversial proposal that would change the way Medicare pays for Part B drugs administered by doctors.
Related Reading:
Options for Implementing Medicare Drug Negotiation.
Letter to Senate Finance on High Drug Costs.
via twitter.
Related Reading:
How the Affordable Care Act Helps Seniors.
The ACA provides new ways to help hospitals, doctors and other health care providers coordinate care for beneficiaries so that health care quality is improved and unnecessary spending reduced.
- Lower-Cost Prescription Drugs.
- Preventive Services and Annual Wellness Visit.
- Lower Medicare Part B Premiums.
- Medicare Fraud, Waste and Abuse.
In this year’s presidential campaign, health care has taken a back seat. But one issue appears to be breaking through: the rising cost of prescription drugs.
via Kaiser Health News.
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Alex Azar, who was just sworn-in this week as Trump’s new Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, is a former executive at Eli Lilly, Inc. As a Big Pharma exec, Azar presided over prescription drug cost increases — and the company was scrutinized for allegedly fixing the price of insulin on his watch.
When Congress returns from summer recess on Monday, lawmakers will have plenty on their plates, especially the vexing issue of high prescription drug prices. Hill-watchers expect action on legislation from both parties which aim to reduce prices at the pharmacy counter, though there is scant consensus on specific policies.
Most Congressional Democrats believe (and the National Committee agrees) that the Department of Health and Human Services must be allowed to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies on behalf of Medicare.
Read more from this op-ed by clicking here.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made a plea for expanding Social Security benefits on Tuesday… in support of Rep. John Larson’s Social Security 2100: A Sacred Trust bill. Read more here: https://www.ncpssm.org/entitledtoknow/rep-larson-introduces-social-security-2100-a-sacred-trust-bill/. #Secure2100 #SocialSecurity