Rep. Cunningham Introduces Bipartisan Legislation to Lower the Cost of Prescription Drugs for Low-Income Individuals

WASHINGTON, May 16 -- Rep. Joe Cunningham, D-South Carolina, issued the following news release:

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- Creating Lower Cost Alternatives for Your Prescription Drugs [CLAY] Act would reduce out-of-pocket costs for low income subsidy [LIS] enrollees

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Today, Rep. Cunningham introduced the CLAY Act, Creating Lower Cost Alternatives for Your Prescription Drugs Act, which would lower the cost of prescription drugs for beneficiaries who receive the low-income subsidy (LIS) in Medicare Part D. The bipartisan legislation is co-sponsored by Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Dwight Evans (D-PA).

The CLAY Act would eliminate cost-sharing for generic drugs for LIS enrollees, providing a stronger financial incentive to use generics, reducing out-of-pocket costs for LIS enrollees who take generic drugs and for those who are able to switch from branded drugs to generics. Under this legislation, LIS enrollees would pay $0 for generic drugs and $3 for non-generic drugs. This proposal has been included in budgets from both the Obama and Trump Administrations.

"Every time I talk to Lowcountry families, I hear how worried folks are about the rising cost of health care and prescription drugs," said Rep. Joe Cunningham. "I came to Congress to get things done for my constituents. We have a real opportunity here work together on lowering the cost of prescription drugs for some of the most vulnerable among us and I'm proud to introduce the bipartisan CLAY Act."

Click HERE for text of the bill (http://cunningham.house.gov/sites/cunningham.house.gov/files/wysiwyg_uploaded/HR%202757%20Bill%20Text_0.pdf).

This legislation follows Cunningham's votes last week to on bipartisan legislation to lower the price of prescription drugs by remove barriers to generics coming to market and to protect coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.