At Virtual Press Conference, Klobuchar, Health Care Advocates Highlight Urgent Need to Pass Legislation to Lower Prescription Drug Prices This Summer

Statement

At a virtual press conference with health care advocates and drug pricing experts, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) highlighted the urgent need to bring historic legislation to lower prescription drug prices to the floor for a vote before the Senate begins its August recess.

Klobuchar was joined by David Mitchell, President and Founder of Patients for Affordable Drugs (P4AD); Minnesotan Steffany Stern, Vice President of Advocacy at the National MS Society; and Dr. Vincent Rajkumar, MD of Mayo Clinic.

"We finally in the next few weeks are going to move forward on doing something about Medicare prescription drug negotiation…Too many American seniors are being crushed by the weight of the current system. They feel it…when they have to choose whether to refill their meds or pay their electric bill. It's finally time to do something about it," said Klobuchar. "Passing this legislation is going to reduce spending for millions of patients every time they visit a pharmacy or a doctor…and critically it's going to give patients the peace of mind that comes with knowing that their health expenses will be more stable…We have the votes and we have the grit to get this done."

Klobuchar has long been a leader in the fight to lower prescription drug and medication prices. Last month, she and Representative Katie Porter (D-CA) urged the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission to examine parallel price increases of widely-used blood-thinning medications.

In March, Klobuchar led a group of bicameral colleagues in calling out drug manufacturers for rapid and widespread price hikes on prescription drugs. The same month, Klobuchar joined 18 of her colleagues to introduce the Affordable Insulin Now Act, legislation that caps out-of-pocket costs for insulin at $35 per month.

In February, Klobuchar and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the Cutting Medicare Prescription Drug Prices in Half Act, which would allow Medicare to pay the same prices for prescription drugs as the Veterans' Administration (VA). The prices the VA pays for prescription drugs are roughly half the amount of prices paid by Medicare Part D for the same products.

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