Political Quotes

“Madam President, I rise in support of the Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act, which is legislation that I have introduced with Senators McCaskill, Barrasso, Stabenow, and Cassidy. Our bill has also been cosponsored by Chairman Lamar Alexander and 19 other Senators from both sides of the aisle. This is one of those rare occasions on which we are taking up a bill that has widespread bipartisan support and that is going to really make a difference. This commonsense bill would ban the use of pharmacy gag clauses--an egregious practice that prevents pharmacists from telling their consumers when they can purchase those prescriptions for less money by paying out-of-pocket rather than by using their insurance. This legislation is action that we can take right now to help lower the costs of prescription drugs for some consumers. More than half of Americans, as well as more than 90 percent of seniors who are, say, 65 or older, take at least one prescription drug each month. Americans have been estimated to spend nearly $45 billion out-of-pocket each year for prescription drugs. According to a recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, as many as one out of five Americans does not fill a needed prescription because they are unable to afford it. I witnessed this struggle firsthand recently at a pharmacy in Bangor, ME. When a couple ahead of me in line received their prescription, they were told by the pharmacist that the copay would be $111.…”