Rep. Stevens Advances Ambitious Proposal to Lower the Cost of Prescription Drugs

WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Haley Stevens (MI-11) voted in the Education & Labor Committee to advance the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, H.R. 3, an ambitious proposal to cut the cost of prescription drugs for all Americans.

“The exorbitant cost of prescription drugs is forcing countless families in my district to make the impossible choice between taking care of their health and putting food on the table,” said Rep. Stevens. “We cannot tolerate a system that is causing three in ten adults to not take their medication as prescribed due to high costs. The Lower Drug Costs Now Act will help Michiganders by negotiating lower drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries and all consumers, and capping out-of-pocket costs for seniors enrolled in Part D plans. I am proud to have helped advance this legislation today, and I will continue to advocate for its final passage.”

According to preliminary analyses conducted by the Congressional Budget Office and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the proposal would save $345 billion for Medicare Part D, alone. It would also save $46 billion in health care costs for private employers, and $55 billion for American workers over the next 10 years.

The legislation:

• Empowers the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate drug prices on up to 250 of the most costly drugs every year.
• Ensures that lower drug prices negotiated by the Secretary would be available to those with private insurance. This is particularly important for the more than 150 million Americans who are covered by employer-sponsored insurance.
• Stops drug companies from ripping off Americans by charging other countries, like Canada, less for the exact same drugs. H.R. 3 limits the maximum price manufacturers can charge for a negotiated drug to be in line with the average price in countries that are similar to the United States.
• Reverses and prevents unjustified price hikes by requiring drug manufacturers to provide a rebate to the American people for price increases for Part B and D drugs that exceed inflation.
• Caps out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors by establishing a $2,000 out-of-pocket limit on prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Part D plans.
• Reinvests savings in improving health care for the American people. The savings achieved by H.R. 3 will be used to improve Medicare and will be reinvested in innovation and the search for new cures through NIH research. 

Earlier this week, Congresswoman Stevens introduced the Maximizing Drug Coverage for Low-Income Seniors Act, H.R. 4669, a bill to reduce prescription drug costs for low-income Medicare beneficiaries.

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