WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) released the statement below following the White House announcement of new actions to support lowering prescription drug costs including the release of a proposed framework for agencies on the exercise of march-in rights on taxpayer-funded drugs.
“The cost of prescription drugs is simply too high. For too long, big drug companies have put their profits ahead of the health of millions of Americans who need life-sustaining medications. That is why I worked for years to end the big drug companies’ sweetheart deal that barred the government from negotiating better prices for our seniors. Americans should not have to pay excessive prices for medications while drug companies make huge profits, especially when those medicines were developed with the help of taxpayer dollars,” said Klobuchar. “I commend President Biden, Secretary Raimondo, and Senator Warren for their work on this. This announcement is developing another important tool to bring down exorbitant prices that are a burden for millions of Americans.”
As Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights, Klobuchar has long led efforts to lower drug prices. Provisions from Klobuchar’s bill to empower Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices and unleash the power of Medicare Part D’s 50 million seniors to help lower drug prices for all Americans were signed into law as part of landmark legislation passed last year. This past August, Klobuchar released a statement following the announcement of the first ten drugs subject to Medicare price negotiations.
In May 2023, Klobuchar and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) reintroduced the Cutting Medicare Prescription Drug Prices in Half Act, which would allow Medicare to pay the same prices for prescription drugs as the Veterans’ Administration (VA). The VA's prices for prescription drugs are roughly half the amount paid by Medicare Part D for the same products.
This past April, Klobuchar, Senator Peter Welch (D-VT), and 28 of their colleagues introduced the Strengthening Medicare and Reducing Taxpayer (SMART) Prices Act which would allow the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to expand its program to negotiate lower drug prices for Medicare Part D beneficiaries.
In March, Klobuchar and Senator Cortez Masto (D-NV) introduced the Lower Drug Costs for Families Act, legislation to lower prices by extending the inflation rebates in the Inflation Reduction Act and further protecting consumers from price-gouging by pharmaceutical companies.
In February, two of Klobuchar and Senator Chuck Grassley’s (R-IA) bipartisan bills that promote competition and reduce drug prices - the Preserving Access to Affordable Generics and Biosimilars Act and the Stop STALLING Act - passed the Senate Judiciary Committee by voice vote.
The Preserving Access to Affordable Generics and Biosimilars Act would limit anticompetitive “pay-for-delay” deals that prevent or delay the introduction of affordable follow-on versions of branded pharmaceuticals.
The Stop Significant and Time-wasting Abuse Limiting Legitimate Innovation of New Generics (Stop STALLING) Act would deter pharmaceutical companies from filing sham petitions with the FDA in order to interfere with the approval of generic and biosimilar medicines that compete with their own brand products, a tactic that delays patient access to affordable medications.
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