Florida lawmakers continue to target the health care system, specifically fighting to lower the cost of drugs. In a continued effort, Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) commented that drug costs have reached alarming heights, noting that “it’s reached crisis level.”
She expressed this week that she’s “been in drug store lines and watched seniors leave medicine behind because the co-pay was too high to take a full prescription home.”
As a result, this endangers many Americans because it forces them to sacrifice their health, and the Lower Drug Costs Now Act is a legislative effort to ensure that Americans no longer have to jeopardize their health over the dollar.
In the bill, Medicare will be given the authority to negotiate directly with the drug companies, and it will ensure that companies reduce drug prices while also guaranteeing that patients will never lose access to the prescriptions that they need.
As well, the bill will make the new affordable prices available to all Americans, which includes Americans that have private insurance. It will create a $2,000 out-of-pocket limit on prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries, and it will reinvest in innovation, which includes savings from lowered drug prices to invest in research for new treatments and cures.
As Democrats continue to make a push for the White House, looking to dominate on the legislative field more effectively than in the 2018 midterm election, one topic of much discussion has been the healthcare field and the rise of drug prices.
The effort to lower drug prices has been a bipartisan effort, and Rep. Wasserman Schultz has been at the forefront of the concern as statistics show that U.S. drug prices are nearly 4X higher than prices in similar countries. Specifically, she cited that that drug companies currently charge 3 to 10 times higher than what they charge for the same drug in different countries, so lawmakers are working diligently to not only lower prices but also reassure the country’s anxiety as prices continue to skyrocket.
