Allow Medicare to Negotiate Drug Prices

Floor Speech

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Ms. WILD. Mr. Speaker, we hear a lot of talk about the soaring costs of prescription drugs, but we seldom hear about the sad fact that Medicare is not allowed to negotiate prescription drug prices.

Earlier this month, drug companies announced yet another painful price hike on critical medications. The soaring price of prescription drugs is crushing Americans at the pharmacy counter, driving up health insurance premiums and creating unaffordable costs for taxpayers, who finance Medicare. That is right. We, the people, fund Medicare. Yet, due to an antiquated law, Medicare has to pay drug prices without the right to negotiate.

That is why, last week, I led a group of my colleagues in sending a letter to leadership, demanding that Medicare negotiation of drug prices be included in the upcoming reconciliation bill.

This is common sense, and it is long overdue.

According to the CBO, allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices would save American taxpayers $456 billion in just the first 10 years alone, with those savings heading right back into the pockets of American families. And it would bring down drug prices for all Americans, not just Medicare recipients. Together, we can get this done.

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