Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act and the next bill we will be considering, the Know the Lowest Price Act. These two bills are the product of bipartisan efforts in the Energy and Commerce Committee to ban so-called gag clauses, which prevent pharmacists from providing consumers information about cheaper prescription drug options.

I did want to mention I see that my colleague, Mr. Doggett from Texas, is here, and the Senate bills being considered today are companion legislation to a House bill that Congressman Doggett introduced with 32 colleagues earlier this year.

Specifically, gag clauses are contractual provisions that can limit pharmacists from informing consumers that their prescriptions may be purchased for a lower price if paid out of pocket instead of through their insurance plan. These bills increase consumer transparency and may help some consumers who get their insurance through the private market or through Medicare save money.

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank, again, Congressman Doggett and Mr. Welch, also from our committee, for their long-time leadership on this issue. I see also that Mr. Sarbanes is here, who has also been involved in this legislation in a major way.

I am glad to see we are voting on these policies today.

The Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act also includes an important provision that ensures biologic and biosimilar drug manufacturers are required to inform the Federal Trade Commission of potentially anticompetitive agreements that may delay lower cost drugs from entering the market in the same manner that brand and generic drug manufacturers do today. This notification will allow the FTC to challenge any ``pay for delay'' agreements in court

Madam Speaker, the language included in this bill is based on legislation introduced by Congressmen Sarbanes and Johnson, and I thank them for their leadership on this important issue.

Now, I must say, Madam Speaker, while I believe both bills are commonsense measures that we should all support, I also strongly believe that this cannot and should not be Congress' only effort to reduce drug prices.

When I am home--and we have been home a lot, as you know, over the last couple of months--one of the number one issues that people are concerned about is the high cost of prescription drugs. We need to address that. I personally believe we should be negotiating the prices of drugs under Medicare, but there are many other measures, including encouraging more generics, that could accomplish the goal of trying to reduce drug prices.

These bills do nothing to address the biggest drivers of high drug costs in this country, namely, the high list prices set by drug companies for branded drugs. So we must address overall drug affordability, which these bills do not, but I continue to urge my colleagues to work together to find solutions that can actually lower drug prices in a meaningful way.

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Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett).

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Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas.

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Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes).

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Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, let me just say these are commonsense initiatives that help address the drug pricing issue. As I have said before, we still need to do a lot more, and we haven't this Congress. But I do agree that these bills will be helpful in that regard.

Madam Speaker, I urge support for this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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