Lower Prescription Drug Costs

Tell Our WV Senators that Congress Must Act Now

 

 

Senator Ron Wyden, the Chair of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, just released a new set of principles ahead of introducing forthcoming legislation to lower prescription drug prices. These principles are an important first step to pass legislation in Congress that lower drug prices for West Virginians and all Americans!

The best chance to pass legislation to lower prescription drug prices will be in the budget reconciliation package that will move through Congress over this summer and fall. 

The Rx drug principles state that:

  1. Medicare must negotiate fair prices
  2. Those prices must be available to all Americans
  3. Those prices can’t increase faster than inflation
  4. Americans have to actually pay less at the pharmacy
  5. Public investment in R&D has to mean that the public doesn’t then pay again with high prices

These principles reverse the current relationship between Medicare and the pharmaceutical industry, which forbids Medicare to push back on prices set by pharmaceutical corporations. Then the savings Medicare will be able to bargain can passed along to every American.

Tell Our WV Senators to Take Action to Lower Prescription Drug Costs!

Millions of seniors, people with disabilities, and families are in desperate need of lower drug prices:  

  • About 3 in 10 adults in the U.S. report not taking their medicines as prescribed at some point in the past year because of the cost.
  • 74% of West Virginians are concerned about the cost of their prescription drugs.
  • 1 in 5 West Virginians reported that during the course of a year they did not fill and/or follow a doctor’s prescription drug order because of cost.
  • In January, 832 drugs increased in price by an average of 4.6%. According to GoodRx, “This is the largest amount of increases we have seen in years.” Of these drugs, 822 were brand drugs, 175 were specialty drugs, and 77 were health care practitioner-administered drugs, which means you can only get them under the supervision of a health care provider.
  • All brand name drug companies could collectively lose $1.05 trillion in sales revenue and still be more profitable than any other industry.
  • Prescription drug prices in the United States are significantly higher than in other nations, with prices in the United States averaging 56 times those seen in 32 other nations (looking at both brand and generic drugs).
  • 88% of Americans – both Republicans and Democrats – support legislation to allow the gov't to negotiate with drug companies to get a lower price on Rx drugs that would apply to both Medicare and private insurance (May 2021)

You CAN Make a Difference!

Click here and you can send a direct message to both Senator Manchin and Capito asking them to support legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices and to regulate unfair drug prices set by hugely profitable pharmaceutical companies. 

THANK YOU!