Donkees
Donkees's JournalJan 2019 - Sanders, Cummings and Colleagues Announce Legislation to Lower Drug Prices
Streamed live on Jan 10, 2019
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Joe Neguse (D-Co.) and other cosponsors in the House and Senate hold a press conference to announce a legislative package that would drastically reduce prescription drug prices in the United States.
Jan 2019 - Sweeping Plan to Lower Drug Prices Introduced in Senate and House
Sweeping Plan to Lower Drug Prices Introduced in Senate and House
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Excerpt:
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) along with more than two dozen of their colleagues in the House and Senate introduced sweeping reforms Thursday that would dramatically reduce prescription drug prices in the United States.
The plan to reduce the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs includes three bills:
The Prescription Drug Price Relief Act, which would peg the price of prescription drugs in the United States to the median price in five major countries: Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan;
The Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act, which would direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs under Medicare Part D;
The Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act, which would allow patients, pharmacists and wholesalers to import safe, affordable medicine from Canada and other major countries.
The Prescription Drug Price Relief Act would lower drug prices in the United States by 50 percent according to Dean Baker. Additionally, the U.S. government could save close to $360 billion over 10 years if Medicare negotiated the same prices for drugs as people in Canada pay, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
"The United States pays by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. This has created a health care crisis in which 1 in 5 American adults cannot afford to get the medicine they need," Sanders said. "That is why I am introducing legislation to drastically bring down the cost of prescription drugs. If the pharmaceutical industry will not end its greed, which is literally killing Americans, then we will end it for them."
"These bills are important because it’s time to provide much-needed relief to the American people," Cummings said. "No more talk. No more tweets. The American people want action. They should not have to decide between paying their bills or paying for their prescriptions. We’re a better country than that. We need real and immediate action to lower drug prices in this country. The American people deserve that, and I will do everything I can to help deliver that for them."
"There is absolutely no reason for the big pharmaceutical companies to make Americans pay higher prescription drug prices than they charge our friends in Canada, Germany, and the UK. Today we’re sending big pharma a message: market exclusivity is a privilege, and when you abuse that by price gouging the sick and aging, then you lose that privilege," Khanna said. "This bill will bring down drug prices by taking on monopolies and boosting prescription drug competition."
President Donald Trump said repeatedly during his campaign that he would take action against drug companies and bring down prices. But in the first seven months of 2018 alone, there were 96 drug price hikes for every price cut. Four major drug manufacturers combined made more than $50 billion in profits last year. In addition, in 2017 1 in 5 Americans reported they did not fill a prescription because of cost.
Meanwhile, in Canada and other major countries, the same medications, manufactured by the same companies, in the same factories are available for a fraction of the price compared to the United States. In 2017, Americans spent $1,208 per person on prescription drugs while Canadians spent $860 and people in the U.K. spent $476.
The measures introduced today are overwhelmingly supported by the American people. Seventy-two percent of Americans favor allowing the importation of prescription drugs from Canada, and 92 percent of the American people support allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices.
https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sweeping-plan-to-lower-drug-prices-introduced-in-senate-and-house
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Published on Mar 30, 2019
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Thank you for showing that our movement is still strong and growing.
https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1111792588812623874
Bernie Sanders on community health centers in the ACA
vimeo.com/132407219
3 years ago
In series of high-stakes maneuvers, Sanders struck a deal to include $11 billion for health clinics
July 6 2015Excerpt:
Over the years, Sanders has tucked away funding for health centers in appropriation bills signed by George W. Bush, into Barack Obama’s stimulus program, and through the earmarking process. But his biggest achievement came in 2010 through the Affordable Care Act. In a series of high-stakes legislative maneuvers, Sanders struck a deal to include $11 billion for health clinics in the law.
The result has made an indelible mark on American health care, extending the number of people served by clinics from 18 million before the ACA to an expected 28 million next year.
To Sanders, the clinics have served as an alternative to his preferred single-payer system. Community health centers accept anyone regardless of health, insurance status or ability to pay. They are founded and managed by a board composed of patients and local residents, so each center is customized to fit the needs of a community. No two health centers are alike.
In rural North Carolina, ACA-backed health centers now provide dental and nutrition services, while in San Francisco, the clinics provide translation services and outreach for immigrant families. In other areas, they provide mental health counseling, low-cost prescription drugs, and serve as the primary care doctors for entire counties. They have also served as a platform for innovation, introducing electronic medical record systems and paving the way with new methods for tracking those most susceptible for heart disease and diabetes.
https://theintercept.com/2015/07/06/gop-senators-support-sanders-obamacare-expansion/
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