Today’s Action: Tell the House to improve the prescription drug bill

The House’s vote on the drug bill is coming soon, and holy moly do we need it: three in ten Americans have reported not taking their prescription medication this year due to the cost. Lowering prescription drug prices is a bipartisan issue that both parties have publicly pronounced their interest in tackling.

House Democrats released the Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019 at the start of the year, as soon as we took control. It’s a good bill – but it could even better, and we have only a short window to urge leadership to make key changes. Even if your Representative isn’t a Democrat, they still need to hear these demands, as the floor vote is expected in mid-December.

Call or email your Representative and urge them to support amendments that provide the following changes to the Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019 and include in other drug bills they may be considering:

• Expand the number of drugs the government negotiates prices on each year (currently set at 25, out of thousands of drugs);
• Strengthen the government’s ability to “claw back” money that drug companies make by overcharging consumers;
• Require companies to negotiate prices with the government before they hit the market, not after;
• Protect all consumers from unfair price spikes (currently only Medicare recipients are protected, not those who use private/employer insurance).

This is a rare moment when leaders on both sides of the aisle are hearing from their constituents, which means even Trump could be pressured into going along with a positive step for a change.

We must be crystal clear about what we want: a really good bill, not a watered down band-aid-of-a-fix that allows politicians to celebrate without doing enough to help consumers.

Email or call (202.224.3121) your Representative and tell them to amend the Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019 to expands the number of drugs covered and protects consumers from high launch prices and price spikes.