King Introduces Legislation to Lower Prescription Drug Prices for Seniors

Press Release

U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) today joined with eight of his colleagues to reintroduce the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act, legislation that would lower prescription drug prices for seniors by allowing Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs. Current law only allows for bargaining by private plan sponsors and bans Medicare from doing so. This legislation would help cut costs for nearly 41 million seniors enrolled in Medicare Part D and boost Medicare savings.

"It just doesn't make any sense that Maine seniors -- many of whom live on a limited, fixed income -- are forced to pay higher prices for medication because the government won't allow itself to negotiate a better deal," Senator King said. "Instead, we need to give Medicare the power to go to bat for seniors -- not tie their hands -- and finally doing so would result in more affordable prescriptions for seniors and billions of dollars in savings for the American taxpayer. That seems like a win-win everyone should be able to agree on."

The Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act would allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to directly negotiate with drug companies for price discounts for the Medicare Prescription Drug Program, eliminating the "non-interference" clause that expressly bans Medicare from negotiating for the best possible prices. The government can harness the bargaining power of nearly 41 million seniors to negotiate bigger discounts than insurance companies. The National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare has estimated that allowing the Secretary to negotiate directly for Medicare prescription drug discounts could save $24 billion annually -- or more than $200 billion over 10 years.

The legislation is led by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and other cosponsors include Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Al Franken (D-Minn.), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.). The Senators have introduced similar legislation in previous Congresses.

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