Rick Allen: “I thank Congressman Carter for yielding and for his efforts here this evening to shine a light on an issue that we all…”

“I thank Congressman Carter for yielding and for his efforts here this evening to shine a light on an issue that we all know is affecting far too many Americans. It is a shame to keep doing things when they don't work. Something has to be done. Madam Speaker, the rising cost of prescription drugs is causing significant financial burdens for millions of Americans, patients, seniors, and our businesses. Too often, Americans have to choose between much-needed prescriptions and household expenses. However, President Trump made it clear to the American people during his State of the Union Address that lowering the cost of prescription drugs was one of his top priorities. As we have seen throughout his Presidency, promises made are promises kept. Earlier this year, the Trump administration issued a proposal that would create incentives to lower list prices and reduce out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs, potentially becoming the most sweeping change to how American drugs are priced, a much-needed change. By delivering discounts directly to patients at the pharmacy counter and bringing long-overdue transparency to a broken system, we are putting patients and seniors first. That is how it should be. It is high time to end these kickbacks to pharmacy middlemen, referred to as PBMs, in this process of dealing with these DIRs, which are putting many of those in the pharmaceutical business in my district out of business.…”