Oregonians share prescription drug price struggles with Ron

Ron heard horrific and heartbreaking accounts last weekend from Oregonians about the skyrocketing costs they face for the life-saving medications they need.

   

After each of the two open-to-all forums on prescription drug prices the Senator held in Portland and Eugene, Ron said people’s painful histories of trying to afford life-saving treatments they need for cancer, diabetes and more underscore the urgency of taking on high prescription drug costs.

“The diagnosis is clear: Oregonians -- especially seniors -- are paying too much for their prescription drugs,’’ he said. “The prescription is just as clear: bringing down the prices of drugs must be a top priority.”

The ranking Democrat on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee overseeing health care spending, Ron outlined his work addressing climbing out-of pocket costs and challenging the major pharmaceutical manufacturers to explain and control costs.

Among his work discussed to combat rising prescription drug prices are:

  • The Right Rebate Act prevents drug makers from manipulating Medicaid to gouge taxpayers and increase profits by misclassifying their drugs as generics instead of brand name. It was signed into law earlier this year.

  • The C-Thru Act that would require public disclosure of the total amount of rebates provided by manufacturers to pharmacy benefit managers and the proportion of those rebates that are passed on to health plans.

  • The SPIKE Act that would require manufacturers to submit a public justification for significant increases in the list price–and holding drugs that account for high Medicare and Medicaid spending to a stricter standard.

  • The RxCAP Act that would eliminate all cost-sharing for Medicare beneficiaries once they reach the catastrophic phase.

“The running theme through all of the above is that we need concrete solutions, not rhetoric, to tackle these issues seriously,” Ron said. “Americans are paying too much for their prescription drugs, the drug pricing system in this country is fundamentally broken – and the time is now to fix it.