ICYMI: Sen. Brown ‘Leading Charge’ to Bring Down Drug Prices
In case you missed it, the
The Improving Access to Affordable Prescription Drugs Act would help ensure that drug companies put patients before profits and bring some much-needed relief to families and seniors. The bill includes language authored by Brown to increase access to biosimilar drugs, providing additional competition in the marketplace and making them more affordable, and language to tax the windfall profits of drug companies when they drive up the cost of drugs without cause overnight. The legislation follows specific steps Brown outlined to Trump in a
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Drugs are ridiculously expensive for two reasons, both imposed by the federal government. First, the government grants pharmaceutical firms long-term monopolies on prescription medication. Second, the government bans itself from regulating the prices these monopolists choose to charge ? or even allowing
No other country in the world does business this way, because it is economically inefficient and bad for public health. President
"When it comes time to negotiate the cost of drugs, we are going to negotiate like crazy," Trump said on the campaign trail. After winning the election, he ratcheted up the rhetoric, telling reporters at a press conference that pharmaceutical companies were "getting away with murder."
Now
Two of the usual suspects are leading the charge ? longtime pharma critics Sens.
In December, Franken and Brown rounded up 18 other Democratic Senators to sign a letter to Trump that vowed to help him pass measures to lower drug prices. They were ready to support legislation allowing
Franken and Brown went further last month, when they introduced legislation that combines just about every policy idea drug lobbyists hate. The bill includes old standbys like
The top prescription drug lobbying organization, the
Nobody on
Franken and Brown's offices say they hope the bill serves as a "menu" of options for Trump should he decide to actually do something about high drug prices. If the president decides to go after Big Pharma, he could demand a provision or two from the Democratic legislation and truthfully claim to have bipartisan support for the move.
Leaders in both parties have been doing favors for Big Pharma for decades. The law prohibiting
Progressive
After excoriating drug companies in early January, Trump held a meeting with top executives. He left parroting drug lobbyist talking points: tough negotiations with Big Pharma had transmuted into nefarious government "price-fixing." He's been quiet about drug prices in the weeks since, ignoring them during the
But a full flip-flop from Trump would be a political boon for progressive
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