Today’s Action: Support legislation to lower prescription drug prices

Thanks to our uniquely high drug prices and an antiquated profit-generating health insurance industry, Americans spend significantly more money on prescription drugs than residents of any other developed nation. And it’s rising: the price of insulin alone doubled between 2012 and 2016. Couple this with high costs of our healthcare in general, it’s no wonder many Americans struggle to cover basic health needs.

But Democrats in Congress have a plan to lower prescription drug prices. The Medicare Negotiation and Competitive Licensing Act would allow the government to negotiate the prices of Medicare Part D drugs with drug companies, thereby saving $14-22 billion annually, greenlight lower-cost generic drugs when negotiations fail, and still manage to reward innovation in new drug creation.

Call or email your Members of Congress and ask them to cosponsor and support the Medicare Negotiation and Competitive Licensing Act to make prescription drugs affordable for the average American. If they have already cosponsored (House/Senate), thank them!

For decades, we’ve been trapped in a Big Pharma state – the pharma lobby spent $27.5 million in 2018, surpassing the $25 million they spent to fight the Affordable Care Act in 2009. And that’s separate from the additional $194 million the individual companies spent lobbying in 2018 alone to keep prices high and generic brands out.

The drug price situation is so dire that even Trump campaigned to lower prices, so theoretically this should be a bipartisan issue amongst voters. However, we’ll need to work hard to push for progressive legislation that truly supports American citizens, versus smoke-screen GOP bills that claim to help voters while actually lining the pockets of Big Pharma (#GOPTaxScam, anyone?)

Email or call (202.224.3121) your Members of Congress and tell them to support the Medicare Negotiation and Competitive Licensing Act. We are long overdue for protection against rising prescription drug costs…and overdue for our leaders to value our lives over the campaign donations of a Big Pharma lobby.