CPPC: Senator Amy Klobuchar: Drug Price Bills Will Likely Advance As Amendments to Larger Bills

Should-Read: CPPC: Senator Amy Klobuchar: Drug Price Bills Will Likely Advance As Amendments to Larger Bills | CPPC | Home: “Senator Klobuchar began with… 1 out of 4 Americans have either cut their prescription drugs in half…

…skipped taking medications, or otherwise avoided the prescriptions they need because of drug costs. This crisis is systemic—Martin Shkreli is… just the tip of the iceberg. Privately, she told us, many Republican members of Congress are worried about drug prices and saying that something has to be done. She came prepared with a ready list of solutions… CREATES Act… [to] end regulatory abuses and promote access to generic drugs, an end to pay-for-delay (in which brand-name companies pay their generic rivals not to bring lower-cost alternative drugs to market), two bills that would allow Medicare Part D to negotiate lower drug prices, and a bill with Senator John McCain that would allow importation of cheaper drugs from other countries. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa supports the CREATES Act and believes that it will pass; the challenge is to get the bill out of committee…. Klobuchar suggested that these bills will most likely advance as amendments to other, larger health care bills, and urged the attendees at the forum to keep advocating for reform…