Trump Administration Backs McCaskill Bill to Lower Drug Costs
Secretary of Health and Human Services calls on Congress to pass Senator’s bill to lower out-of-pocket drug costs
WASHINGTON – Following the announcement that President Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services is urging Congress to pass U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill’s legislation to help lower out-of-pocket drug costs, she released the following statement:
“Missourians are struggling with rising prescription drug prices, yet pharmacy gag clauses prevent them from saving money—it’s outrageous and needs to stop. I welcome the support of the Trump Administration in this bipartisan effort and join them in saying the time to act is now.”
According to a report in Modern Healthcare, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar called on Congress to act on McCaskill’s bipartisan legislation, the Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act, which would prohibit “pharmacy gag clauses” that lead to consumers needlessly overpaying for prescription drugs. The bill recently cleared a key committee hurdle and currently awaits consideration by the full Senate.
Pharmacy gag clauses forbid pharmacists from proactively telling consumers if their prescription would cost less if they paid for it out-of-pocket rather than using their insurance plan. Pharmacists who disobey these clauses face significant penalties. McCaskill, along with Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine and Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, is leading the push to prohibit this practice in Medicare and in insurance plans offered through the exchanges or by private employers. Consumers overpaid an estimated $135 million due to “gag clauses” in 2013.
McCaskill has made tackling rising healthcare and prescription drug costs a top priority in the Senate. Earlier this year, McCaskill released a report as part of her role leading the Senate’s top oversight committee that found that prices for many of the most-prescribed brand-name drugs in the Medicare program are increasing at ten times the rate of inflation. During her time as the top Democrat on the Senate Special Committee on Aging, McCaskill joined Republican Chairman Susan Collins to launch an in-depth investigation into prescription drug price increases, and last year, President Trump signed into law the Senators’ bipartisan legislation to increase competition for generic drugs and help lower prescription costs.
McCaskill has been a fierce advocate for fair healthcare practices for Missourians, leading a group of Senate colleagues to defend the constitutionality of protections for Missourians with preexisting conditions against a lawsuit by Attorneys General from 18 states, including Missouri, as well as two Governors, that seeks to repeal critical consumer protections that protect healthcare access for more than one million Missourians.
Visit mccaskill.senate.gov/
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