Schakowsky Applauds Passage of Legislation to Lower Drug Costs Now

Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, a Senior Chief Deputy Whip and Chair of the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, released a statement on the passage of H.R. 3, The Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, by a vote of 230-192:

"Today, the House passed the Elijah E. CummingsLower Drug Costs Now Act and accomplished a transformative, historic step to lower drug prices for people across the United States.

"Negotiating for fair prescription drug prices is the most effective tool to lower drug prices and hold Big Pharma accountable for their decades of price gouging. We have names of individuals who have died because they cannot afford their medication. 34 million people in the U.S. know of at least one friend or family member who died in the last five years after not receiving treatment for their condition due to their inability to pay for it. And 58 million people have been unable to pay for prescribed medicine in the last 12 months.

"This bill is a pillar of the Democratic Caucus' For the People agenda. H.R. 3 will significantly lower drug prices for patients across the country by finally allowing the federal government to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for consumers. Negotiation was prohibited after drug company lobbyists, working with Congressional Republicans, added a prohibition on federal drug price negotiation into law in 2003 in order to maximize their profits while patients suffered.

"H.R. 3 is a win for seniors and all consumers across the United States. The bill's lower, negotiated prices will be available to not just Medicare beneficiaries, but also people with private insurance. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that negotiation would save the federal government $456 billion. This is an incredible sum that we will use to finally offer vision, dental, hearing coverage to seniors and to strengthen the Medicare program's coverage of necessary procedures and medical equipment like lymphedema compression garments. H.R. 3 includes my Lymphedema Treatment Act (H.R. 1948), which would ensure Medicare Part B coverage of compression therapy, the clinically-recognized treatment for lymphedema.

"Big Pharma has told us time and time again that their high prices are justified because of what they spend on research and development, yet refuse to tell us exactly what that spending is. That will no longer stand with H.R. 3, which includes my comprehensive drug price transparency bill, the FAIR Drug Pricing Act (H.R. 2296). My bill, as passed by the House today, will force drug companies to publicly justify their price increases and provide the American public with critical information around how much Big Pharma is spending on: manufacturing, research and development costs; net profits; marketing and advertising costs; patents and licensing information; executive compensation; and other necessary information. This information will be critical for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to utilize in drug price negotiations and will finally offer consumers greater transparency around drug pricing.

"Finally, H.R. 3 also passed with an amendment based off of my Drug-price Transparency in Communications (DTC) Act, which requires Big Pharma to include truthful and non-misleading pricing information in all direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription drugs.

"Over the past few months, I've worked hard to ensure H.R. 3 takes a progressive approach to drug price negotiation by addressing high launch prices and drugs with little competition. I was proud to vote yes for this bill, and hope President Trump will live up to his promise to ‘negotiate like crazy' by advocating for this bill in the Senate and pledging to sign it into law. Meanwhile, my colleagues and I will keep fighting to ensure every individual has equitable access to affordable prescription drugs."