Drug prices and out-of-pocket costs paid by seniors have soared, forcing some older Americans to go without needed medications, cut pills and skip doses – or even choose between paying for medicine and groceries. Fortunately, the elected leaders at this town hall are working hard to right this wrong.
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#politics #rx drugs #prescription drugs #seniors #elderly #older americans #retirement #retirees #retirement crisis #entitlements #entitlement reform #earned benefits #medicareMedicare 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.
Options for Implementing Medicare Drug Negotiation.
Letter to Senate Finance on High Drug Costs.
Seniors could save 28% on Medicare prescription drugs if we paid the same prices as Canada. Compared to Denmark, we would save 65%!
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is working on a bipartisan plan to cap seniors’ expenses for prescription drugs in Medicare as part of a broader effort to lower drug prices.
Grassley told The Hill on Wednesday that one idea he is working on with Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), the top Democrat on the panel, is “some sort of maximum amount that one person would have to pay” for drugs.
via The Hill.
Pharmacists finally will be free to disclose lower prices for prescription drugs, thanks to a new law introduced by Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), which was endorsed by the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.
The passage and signing of Senator Stabenow’s legislation proves that Congress and the president are indeed capable of coalescing around common sense solutions to lower prescription drug prices. This law will particularly help seniors on fixed incomes struggling to afford the medications they need.
We applaud Rep. Lloyd Doggett’s efforts to keep prescription drugs affordable for the seniors who depend on them. We thank you for your tenacious efforts on this vital issue.
According to AARP, the annual average cost of prescription drugs overall increased nearly 60% between 2012-2017, while Oregonians’ income increased only 14.8%. In 2017, nearly one quarter of the state’s residents rationed pills or skipped medications altogether. Oregon seniors who have suffered the consequences of soaring drug prices shared their stories at the Portland town hall.
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.
via twitter.
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Prescription drug prices are out of control – and older Americans are feeling the financial pain at the pharmacy counter. Prices for the most commonly prescribed drugs for seniors have increased ten times the rate of inflation since 2013. Medicare beneficiaries pay thousands of dollars a year in out-of-pocket drug costs they can’t afford.
His administration has been in place for an entire year and so far hasn’t taken any serious action to bring down the cost of prescription drugs. A year after President Trump took office, the United States still pays more for prescription drugs than most other nations.
Trump’s previous Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tom Price, seemed more concerned with undermining Obamacare than lowering drug prices — until he left office under a cloud of scandal.
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. He seems hardly the ideal candidate to lead a crusade against overcharging. Yet, Azar promised after his swearing-in to bring down prescription drug prices, echoing the President’s so-far empty pledges.
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
