Enhancing Affordability of Prescription Drugs

With my pharmacy background, I know first-hand how many Americans are finding it hard to afford the cost of prescription drugs, and Congressional actions to improve access to medications and reduce out-of-pocket costs for patients are long-overdue.

That’s why I joined as a proud co-sponsor of H.R. 19, the Lower Costs, More Cures Act. This legislation contains dozens of pro-patient solutions for Medicare and the broader prescription drug market. It would implement a cap on out-of-pocket drug spending under Medicare Part D, strengthen cost comparison tools, remove disincentives for prescribing lower-cost medications, reign-in drug manufacturer patent abuses, enlist a Chief Pharmaceutical Negotiator to drive better trade deals for Americans, and facilitate outcomes-based arrangements for cutting-edge therapies.

Another major piece of the drug pricing puzzle in need of reforms is the role of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). PBMs are shadowy middlemen that have exploited a lack of transparency and created conflicts of interest that are significantly distorting competition, reducing choices for consumers and ultimately increasing the cost of drugs. Click HERE to read more about my work to reform the PBM industry.

In addition to lowering the costs of prescription medications for all Americans, we need to bolster the security and resiliency of our pharmaceutical and other healthcare supply chains. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored America’s heavy dependence on China for critical prescription drugs, and we cannot continue to allow Beijing to hold the keys to our pharmaceutical supply chain and risk future drug shortages, contaminated drugs, or ineffective drugs. That’s why I am a proud cosponsor of the Protecting our Pharmaceutical Supply Chain from China Act (H.R. 7121), to help ensure Communist China no longer plays a role in creating or providing U.S. prescription drugs and further incentivizes manufacturers to produce necessary medication on American soil.

I’m also an original cosponsor of the MADE in America Act (H.R. 2707), bipartisan legislation that will mitigate drug shortages and medical supply chain crunches while incentivizing the domestic manufacturing of drugs, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), personal protective equipment (PPE), and diagnostics.