Keating Supports Bill That Would Lower Prescription Drug Costs

BOURNE – Bourne Congressman Bill Keating is throwing his support behind a bill that would lower the cost of prescription drugs.

The “Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drugs Costs Now Act” would give Medicare the power to negotiate directly with the drug companies.

It’s expected to bring down prices and make those savings available to Massachusetts residents with private insurance, not just those on medicare.

“My district is unique, it’s one of the older districts in the United States and the population as such is dramatically impacted by this,” Keating said during a recent press call.

“I would say this piece of legislation, should it become law, would have the most impact of probably any other piece of legislation in my district in my time and probably decades before.”

Independent experts found that the “Lower Drug Cost Now Act” would save American households $120 billion, save private businesses more than $40 billion, and save taxpayers approximately $500 billion that would be reinvested to expand benefits for patients and fund new cures.

Currently, U.S. drug prices are nearly four times higher than the combined average of 11 other similar countries, and Americans pay as much as 67 times more than consumers in other nations for prescription drugs.

“Unfortunately, my district is one of the highest in the country in terms of how the opioid addiction and disease has affected us,” said Keating.  

“Targeting the money that’s there that’s going to be based in community based projects as well as analysis of medically assisted drug treatment, all those things more than it would in the norm across the country would benefit my district.”

If passed, the “Lower Drug Cost Now Act” would empower the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate the price of up to 250 of the most expensive drugs every year, including insulin, and set a maximum price with an international price index.

The negotiated prices would apply to both Medicare and private insurance.

The Act would also cap out-of-pocket prescription drug cost for Medicare beneficiaries at $2,000 a year and require drug companies to pay Medicare rebates when the price of their drug raises faster than inflation.

The bill has been filled with the House of Representatives and is currently awaiting approval.