Use Authority to Lower Prices Now, for All: Reaction to HHS Announcement

Washington, D.C. – Just now, U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin) released the following statement regarding the announcement today from Health and Human Services (HHS) releasing key dates for the first year of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program:

“Today’s announcement shows how very much more action is urgently needed to stop prescription price gouging. No relief is offered for the more than 80% of Americans who do not rely on Medicare. And, after waiting yet another three years, Medicare beneficiaries will receive help for only ten of the many thousands of medications. Meanwhile, this month, manufacturers are expected to increase prices on over 350 drugs. Pharmaceutical monopolies have been charging the very highest prices for decades—leaving patients to ration and skip medications, risking their health and their very lives.

The Biden Administration should be using its existing legal authority to do much more to lower prices immediately for all Americans, as some of us have been urging.”

Rep. Doggett also just authored an opinion piece published in CNN yesterday, with Robert Weissman of Public Citizen, on the need for immediate action to reduce prescription drug prices and detailing what actions the Administration can take right now to ensure that lifesaving medicines are affordable for all.

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