Political Quotes

“when it comes to healthcare access, one of the biggest issues that Tennesseans face is rising costs, especially on prescription drugs. I will tell you, this comes up in meeting after meeting, questions about why our pharmaceuticals are costing me so much. According to a study by the Department of Health and Human Services, the average drug price increased by more than 15 percent--15 percent-- between 2022 and 2023. That translates to about $590 per prescription. Nearly half of all the medications that were studied saw price increases that outpaced inflation, including some with increases of-- get this--over 3,000 percent. This is unsustainable. And the reason it is unsustainable is why President Trump decided to take Executive action last month to lower drug prices for so many Americans. Among his actions, the President is taking on a category called pharmaceutical benefit managers or they are referred to in acronym parlance as PBMs. PBMs raise prices and limit choices for consumers. When you look at this industry, we have pharmaceutical companies that are manufacturing the pharmaceuticals. You have health insurers that cover the cost of these. You have pharmacies that sell them, patients that rely on them, and in the mix, there are now PBMs. They are middlemen that came about decades ago. They are between the drug manufacturer, the health insurer, and the pharmacies. Think of this as a triangle with the cost of that running around from point to point.…”