WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) released the following statement on inaction by the Administration to lower skyrocketing prescription drug prices.
“Talk is cheap and prescription drugs aren’t. I appreciate the President talking about this issue and putting forward some proposals to boost competition in the pharmaceutical market, but we need more action. Week after week, I continue to push for real solutions. And week after week, I hear a new story about an exorbitant price hike for a critical drug. I hear about how people can no longer afford a drug that’s the difference between life and death - the examples go on and on.
“We have put specific legislation on the table—most of which has bipartisan support—that we could pass immediately to bring down prescription drug prices. Let’s start by passing my bill to lift the ban on Medicare negotiating prices directly with drug companies on behalf of the 41 million seniors in the Part D program—something the President previously said that he supported. My bipartisan bills would also allow the importation of safe, less-expensive drugs from countries like Canada and stop anticompetitive tactics—like brand-name companies denying generic companies access to samples or using ‘pay-for-delay’ deals to keep their generic competitors out of the market. Americans are waiting, there is no time to waste.”
Klobuchar has championed efforts to protect consumers and lower prescription drug costs by promoting competition in the healthcare system, authoring multiple pieces of bipartisan legislation that would address the high cost of prescription drugs. Klobuchar introduced legislation—that has 33 cosponsors—to lift the ban on Medicare negotiating for the best possible price of prescription drugs for nearly 41 million seniors enrolled in Medicare Part D. Last year, Klobuchar and Senator John McCain (R-AZ) introduced the Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act, bipartisan legislation that would allow individuals to safely import prescription drugs from Canada. Klobuchar has also introduced the bipartisan Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Act with Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to expand consumers’ access to the cost-saving generic drugs they need and increase competition by ending “pay for delay” deals—the practice of brand-name drug companies using anti-competitive pay-off agreements to keep more affordable generic equivalents off the market. Klobuchar’s Short on Competition Act, introduced with Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), would allow temporary importation of drugs that have been approved in another country with similar safety requirements and face little or no competition in the U.S. The bipartisan Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples (CREATES) Act would prevent abusive tactics that prevent affordable drugs from entering the market.
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