Package of legislation would allow Medicare to negotiate for lower prices, cap the cost of insulin, and cap the cost seniors pay for medicine on Medicare
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (MI-08) this week introduced The Make Medicine Affordable Act, a bill aimed at driving down the cost of prescription medications by allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower prices, capping the amount seniors on Medicare spend on medication at $2,000 per month and disincentivizing companies from raising prices faster than inflation. The bill would also cap the price of insulin at $35 per month.
Slotkin has long advocated for prescription drug reform that lowers costs and is a co-lead of the Insulin Price Reduction Act. In 2020, President Donald Trump signed into law Slotkin’s Real Time Benefits Act, a bill that will improve transparency and help patients save money by enabling their doctors to compare prices for different drug brands and at different pharmacies before a prescription is written for patients to pick up.
“What is the issue I hear most about in my district? The cost of prescription drugs. So even though we haven’t gotten meaningful reform through the Senate, we can’t sit on our hands while so many are paying more in drug costs than their mortgage,” said Slotkin. “Congress should knuckle down and work to pass common-sense measures that will have a direct impact on Americans’ lives, and this issue is at the top of the list. The bill is simple – at its heart, it allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices. This is literally the most basic, common-sense policy you can imagine: it allows Medicare to do what Americans do at Costco every week: buy in bulk so you can get a lower per-unit price. It also limits prescription costs for seniors at $2,000 per month; caps the price of insulin, which more than 800,000 Michiganders depend on to survive, at $35 per month; and disincentivizes drug companies from raising prices faster than the rate of inflation.
“Last week, I attended an event at the White House that strengthened the Affordable Care Act. In many ways it was life coming full circle, since it was another White House ceremony after the House voted to repeal the ACA that ultimately pushed me to run for office. Health care and the price of health care is personal for me: my mom was diagnosed with stage IV ovarian cancer in 2009, and when she was diagnosed, she didn’t have health care. Passing these basic reforms would have a dramatic impact on the daily lives of millions of people in Michigan alone and help them save thousands of dollars each year.”
The full text of Slotkin’s bill can be found HERE. The Make Medicine Affordable Act would:
- Set a $2,000 cap on how much seniors pay out of pocket for their prescription drugs and cap the cost of insulin for patients in Medicare part D and the commercial market at $35 per month;
- Disincentivize companies from unfairly raising prices on patients by requiring companies that raise a drug’s price faster than the rate of inflation to provide a rebate back to the federal government;
- Empower the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate lower prices for some of the costliest drugs to Medicare Part D and Part B;
- Reform the Medicare Part D benefit structure to shift liability for catastrophic costs from Medicare to manufacturers and health plans, putting downward pressure on prices and incentivizing plans to lower costs for beneficiaries.
Original source can be found here.
