Political Quotes

“Mr. President, most Americans agree that the cost of prescription drugs is too high. Most Americans agree that President Biden has done the right thing by reducing the monthly cost of insulin to $35 so that millions of people facing diabetes can afford their medication. Most Americans agree that it is almost impossible to explain why American drug companies sell the same drugs in Canada for a fraction of the cost they charge American consumers. Most Americans agree that the pharmaceutical companies should be able to take advantage of basic research by Agencies like the National Institutes of Health but, when it comes to their profit-making, they ought to be reasonable with the American taxpayers, who started them down the road to a successful product. Most Americans also agree that the No. 1 driver in the cost of health insurance premiums is the cost of prescription drugs. BlueCross BlueShield of Chicago has told me as much. It stands to reason. That is why it is very difficult to understand the statement just made by the Republican leader in the Senate, who is suggesting that the idea of negotiating with the pharmaceutical companies so that Medicare, for example, doesn't pay the highest price for drugs isn't a reasonable thing. What I heard from the Republican leader was this was prescription drug socialism--socialism--that we would go to the private sector and say: Lifesaving drugs should be affordable.…”