McCaskill Continues Bipartisan Push to Combat Prescription Drug Price Spikes, Increase Patient Access

Press Release

Continuing her fight on behalf of Missouri's seniors, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is teaming up with Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine to combat the sudden, aggressive price hikes of prescription drugs by promoting competition to help lower costs and improve accessibility.

"Too many folks are struggling with the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs, and we can take some commonsense steps to help alleviate that burden" McCaskill said. "If we incentivize competition and fast-track new drug approvals, we can bring down costs to make these lifesaving drugs more affordable for the thousands of Missourians who depend on them."

"The skyrocketing prices of prescription drugs affect every American family, particularly our seniors, 90 percent of whom take at least one prescription drug in any given month," said Collins. "The Increasing Competition in Pharmaceuticals Act, which was informed by our extensive, bipartisan investigation, would help address egregious price increases on a number of decades-old drugs by making it easier for generic pharmaceutical manufacturers to enter the market and compete to reduce prices. Our legislation would create a strong disincentive for companies that act more like hedge funds to drive up the prices of drugs they did nothing to develop just because, as one executive essentially said, "because I can.'"

The Increasing Competition in Pharmaceuticals Act would improve the Food and Drug Administration's approval process for certain generic applications. By promoting competition in the generic drug marketplace, the bill would help lower costs and improve the accessibility of decades-old prescription drugs.

This legislation stems from the only bipartisan investigation into the causes, impacts, and potential solutions to the egregious price spikes for certain drugs, which was led by McCaskill and Collins last Congress. From the beginning, the investigation strived to understand why companies can make these large price increases and to identify which policies should be considered to counter these disturbing practices.

As the former top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Aging Committee, McCaskill embarked on a statewide tour of Missouri during which she heard directly from seniors on issues ranging from Medicare and Medicaid to prescription drug prices. Last year, Americans were expected to spend more than $328 billion on prescription drugs. Of this amount, individuals paid about $50 billion out-of-pocket. The federal government picked up another $110 billion in payments through Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Affairs, and other programs.

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