Pro-Consumer Groups Announce Endorsement of Klobuchar's Legislation to Lower Prescription Drug Prices for Seniors

Press Release

Several major pro-consumer groups have endorsed U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar's legislation to lower prescription drug prices for seniors. The Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act would allow for Medicare to negotiate the best possible price of prescription drugs. Current law bans Medicare from doing so. The legislation would help cut costs for nearly 41 million seniors enrolled in Medicare Part D and boost Medicare savings. In a letter, major pro-consumer groups including Consumers Union, U.S. PIRG, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, and Consumer Watchdog expressed support for Klobuchar's bill.

"The fact that Medicare can't negotiate for the best possible price on prescription drugs makes no sense. It's a bad deal for our seniors and all taxpayers," Klobuchar said. "My legislation would harness the bargaining power of nearly 41 million seniors and allow Medicare to directly negotiate with drug companies for lower drug prices. I'll keep fighting to ensure that our seniors can access the prescription drugs they need at the lowest possible price."

In a letter to Klobuchar, the consumer groups wrote, "Ten-thousand seniors age into Medicare every day. The government should be allowed to represent those people in the marketplace, just as it does for veterans. Medicare's massive volume -- 41 million enrollees -- puts the government in a strong negotiating position to obtain a good deal for Medicare plans, and for taxpayers."

The consumer groups continued, "As Congress considers a range of proposals to address rising prescription drug costs, enacting the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2017 is a common-sense step to improve how Medicare works for providing prescription drugs."

Klobuchar's legislation would allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to directly negotiate with drug companies for price discounts for the Medicare Prescription Drug Program, eliminating the "non-interference" clause that expressly bans Medicare from negotiating for the best possible prices. The government would be able to harness the bargaining power of nearly 41 million seniors to negotiate bigger discounts than insurance companies.

Klobuchar has long championed efforts to protect consumers and lower costs by promoting competition in the healthcare system, including authoring multiple pieces of legislation that would address the high cost of prescription drugs. The bipartisan Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Act Klobuchar introduced with Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) would crack down on anti-competitive "pay-for-delay" deals in which brand-name pharmaceutical companies pay their generic competitors not to compete as part of a patent settlement. These pay-for-delay agreements delay consumer access to generic drugs, which can be as much as 90 percent cheaper than brand-name drugs. The legislation would stop these anti-competitive pay-off agreements in order to help make sure consumers have access to the cost saving generics they need. Klobuchar also introduced the Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act with Senator John McCain (R-AZ) that would require the Food and Drug Administration to establish a personal importation program to allow individuals to import a 90-day supply of prescription drugs from an approved Canadian pharmacy. In addition, Klobuchar introduced the Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples (CREATES) Act with Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Mike Lee (R-UT). The CREATES Act would combat anticompetitive practices used by some brand-name pharmaceutical and biologic companies to block entry of lower-cost generic drugs in the marketplace.

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