For Immediate Release: Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Contact: Morgan Williams Grogan, morgan.williams@berlinrosen.com, 512-913-8875
Congressman Doggett’s New Bill Tackling Skyrocketing Drug Prices Saves Lives and Money
Washington, DC – In response to Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)’s Medicare Negotiation and Competitive Licensing Act legislation that would require Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical manufacturers, Health Care for America Now Executive Director Margarida Jorge released the following statement:
“Congressman Doggett’s drug price negotiation bill leverages the power of government to make medicine more affordable for Americans struggling with the escalating cost of prescriptions. While President Trump and Republicans continue to sabotage the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and undermine the protections for people over 50, women and people with pre-existing conditions, this legislation would lower skyrocketing drug prices by taking control away from Big Pharma and empowering consumers.
“Unlike previous negotiation bills, Doggett’s bill addresses what should happen if companies refuse to offer their drugs at an affordable price. In that case, the HHS Secretary is required to promote generic competition by allowing the use of patent, clinical trial data and any other exclusivity granted by the federal government that’s necessary to produce the drug at an affordable price. This is the kind of life-saving legislation we need more of rather than Republicans sabotaging the ACA and proposing cuts to Medicaid and Medicare to pay for more tax breaks for the prescription drug companies.”
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Health Care for America Now (HCAN) is the national grassroots coalition that ran a $60 million five-and-a-half year campaign from 2008-2013 to pass, protect, and promote the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and protect Medicare and Medicaid. HCAN has come back together to fight the Republicans’ all-out effort to take away America’s health care and put people at the mercy of the health insurance companies again.
