Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Guthrie for yielding me time. I rise today in opposition to H.R. 5376, the Inflation Reduction Act. As a physician and former director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, I am uniquely positioned to understand the true implications of this bill and how this bill will affect both doctors and patients, and rural Iowans are no exception. Interestingly, I just heard my colleague talk about how families may be kicked off their healthcare, and it doesn't seem to me that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle cared about that when they passed the Affordable Care Act and premiums rose dramatically. Allowing the Federal Government to set limits on drug pricing will limit competition and drastically reduce innovation within the pharmaceutical industry. Innovation also comes even after FDA approval to determine if drugs can be used for more than just their initial purpose. Additionally, narrowing the drug formulary by drug pricing through Medicare and negotiations will end up taking medications that you may already be prescribed and taking successfully, taking them off of the formulary and not being covered. Let me also illustrate, when Medicare part D went into effect, the fact that there was not a negotiation by Medicare allowed generic drugs as low as $4 a medication. That was tremendously helpful to millions of seniors and continues to this day.…”