Congresswoman Gwen Moore (WI-4) Votes on Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act

Statement

Today, Congresswoman Gwen Moore (WI-4) voted to pass H.R. 987, the Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act.

"H.R. 987 is a landmark step in the fight to ensure all Americans can access quality and affordable health care. This legislation provides much-needed prescription drug cost relief, ensures protections for people with pre-existing conditions and rolls back incentives for junk plans and strengthens the Affordable Care Act," Congresswoman Gwen Moore said.

Protecting pre-existing conditions and rescinding the junk plan (also known as short-term, limited duration health insurance) rule are key parts of this legislation. Additionally, the bill includes provision from H.R. 1010, a bill that Congresswoman Moore was a lead sponsor of, to rescind the Trump administration's devastating junk plan rule. The bipartisan legislation also appropriates $200 million to assist interested states in creating their own state-based marketplaces, restores critical funding for marketplace consumer outreach and enrollment education activities, as well as critical funding for the Navigator program, both of which have been slashed by the Trump Administration.

"President Trump has been trying to chip away at Americans' health care for too long. As one of the 130 million Americans with a pre-existing condition, I know that these junk plans do not provide meaningful coverage, and that these dangerous plans too often leave families on the hook for costly medical bills when they need coverage the most," Congresswoman Gwen Moore said.

H.R. 987 also includes three bills to lower prescription drug costs by helping lower-priced generic drugs get to market faster. It includes:

The CREATES Act: Currently, certain brand-name manufacturers use tactics to withhold or delay generic manufacturers getting from them the brand drug samples they need to develop their generic products. This bill establishes a process by which generic manufacturers are able to obtain sufficient quantities of the brand drug samples, thereby blocking these delaying tactics.
The Protecting Consumer Access to Generic Drugs Act: Currently, brand-name drug manufacturers can enter into a "pay-for-delay" agreement in which the brand-name manufacturer pays the generic manufacturer to delay bringing a generic equivalent to market, significantly hurting consumers. This bill makes these "pay-for-delay" agreements illegal.
The BLOCKING Act: Currently, the first generic applicant to FDA is granted 180 days of market exclusivity, but some generics then fail to move the product to market, called "parking" -- thereby blocking other generics from applying to FDA. This bill allows generics to get to market earlier by changing the rules on "parking."

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