December 12, 2019

Rep. Lawson Votes to Pass the Lower Drug Costs Now Act

WASHINGTON DC – Today, U.S. Rep. Lawson (FL-05) voted to pass landmark legislation that would help to lower prescription drug cost for millions of Americans ---the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act (HR 3).

“The skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs remain a real crisis for too many hard-working Americans who every day are forced to make the unthinkable choice between filling a prescription and paying their bills,” Rep. Lawson said. “This bill makes critical investments in both the largest expansion of Medicare benefits since its creation, as well as an expansion of lifesaving research for the groundbreaking cures of the future.”

This bill would deliver substantial savings to the 87,041people enrolled in a Medicare Part D plan, in Florida’s Fifth District, and the 405,334 people individuals enrolled in private health insurance.

 The Lower Drug Costs Now Act:

  • Gives Medicare the power to negotiate directly with the drug companies, and creates powerful new tools to force drug companies to the table to agree to real price reductions, while ensuring seniors never lose access to the prescriptions they need.
  • Makes the lower drug prices negotiated by Medicare available to Americans with private insurance, not just Medicare beneficiaries.
  • Stops drug companies from ripping off Americans while charging other countries less for the same drugs, limiting the maximum price for any negotiated drug to be in line with the average price in countries like ours, where drug companies charge less for the same drugs – and admit they still make a profit.
  • Creates a new, $2,000 out-of-pocket limit on prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries, and reverses years of unfair price hikes above inflation across thousands of drugs in Medicare.
  • Reinvests the hundreds of billions of dollars in savings in the most transformational improvement to Medicare since its creation – delivering vision, dental and hearing benefits – and turbocharging the search for new cures.

 

 

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