On Wednesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) demanded on the Senate floor that the chamber immediately take up debate on his and Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s (D-Minnesota) new bill to lower prescription drug prices – but the effort was blocked by a pharmaceutical industry-backed Republican senator.
Sanders and Klobuchar requested unanimous consent for the Senate’s debate and vote on the Cutting Medicare Prescription Drug Prices in Half Act. allow MedicareTo access the same low drug price as the Department of Veterans Affairs.
This could save Medicare beneficiaries hundreds to thousands of dollars per month, depending on their medical needs. According to a Government Accountability Office report from 2020, Veterans Affairs’s prices are 49 percent lower for name brand drugs and 68 percent lower for generic drugs.
“For decades, literally decades – 20, 30, 40 years – members of both political parties have come to the floor of the Senate, come to the floor of the House, and they have bemoaned the high cost of prescription drugs in this country,” Sanders saidin a passionate speech to the House floor. “For decades now, members of Congress have been talking about lowering the cost of prescription drugs. They have been failing to deliver for decades. Talk, talk, talk. Nothing happens.”
Growing wealth inequality during the pandemic – which has now killed over 900,000 Americans – has demonstrated the urgency of making prescription drugs more accessible, Sanders continued. He also highlighted that rising prices for essentials such as prescription drugs are a major problem. The U.S. has more immigrants than any other countryThis is making it harder for low- and middle-income families, to survive.
“During this pandemic alone, just the last few years, the billionaire class saw an increase in their wealth by some $2 trillion,” he said. “While at the same time, thousands of workers diedThey went to work. They didn’t have a choice about it. They went to work, and they died.”
Republican Senator Mike Crapo (Idaho). blocked the effort, complaining that it would add “more bureaucracy.” Over the past election cycle, Crapo has receivedThe pharmaceutical industry has generated nearly $300,000.
Democrats and progressives have been aggressively seeking legislation to lower prescription drug costs. Sanders They fought for many monthsCalls and demands to include drug price reforms within the Build Back better Act Bill introductionTo move the issue forward.
The prescription drug pricing plans eventually will be abolished were reduced in sizeThanks to opposition from allies in the pharmaceutical industry like Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia), Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona)Along with A group of conservative DemocratsThe House’s top donors are the pharmaceutical industry and the health care industry.
Then – after a pharma-funded group Staffers from the Democratic Party were hosted at a retreat in November – the Build Back Better Act died an unceremonious death after months were wasted on negotiations.
Although prescription drug pricing proposals face opposition by pharma-funded lawmakers on both sides, polls show that such bills are supported by the majority of respondents. They are extremely popularWith the American public. In October, a CBS NewsA poll revealed that 88 percent of Americans support lower prescription drug prices through federal funding.
This is because Millions of Americans can’t afford to buy drugs that have been prescribed to them. Gallup polls from last year found that 71% of respondents are unable to afford drugs. about 10 percent of adults living in low-income households reported skipping pillsYou can save money.
Drug prices are higher in the U.S. than elsewhere, and the problem is only getting worse. The pharmaceutical companies raised drug prices by 11% in this year. an average of 6.6 percentFor 866 drugs, the cost of hiking is $18
Part of the reason why it’s so difficult to move drug pricing reform through Congress is because the pharmaceutical industry is perhaps The single most powerful industry in politics. It spent almost $353 million last year on lobbying, which is the highest amount of any industry. This is almost twice the amount spent on lobbying by the electronics manufacturing/equipment industry, which spent $185 million in total to lobby the government in 2021.
