Political Quotes

“Mr. President, as all America knows, climbing healthcare costs continue to keep the American people up at night. A Kaiser Foundation poll in September found that the No. 1 health concern of the American people is prescription drug pricing. A whopping 70 percent of those polled think lowering prescription drug costs should be a top priority--a top priority--for Congress, making it the No. 1 item on our to-do list, but our friend and colleague from New York, the minority leader, objected last time I offered unanimous consent to take up and pass a bill, which I will describe here momentarily. I hope, given the intervening time and further reflection, he will not do so today, and we can get this bill passed and address this top priority of the American people. The good news is, Republicans and Democrats both agree we need to do something about it. I have the honor of serving on both the Finance and Judiciary Committees, where we have been looking into this problem and some of the potential solutions. There are pharmaceutical CEOs who earn big bonuses as sales go up. I am not opposed to them receiving compensation, but pharmacy benefit managers who negotiate backdoor rebates that drive up out-of-pocket costs are a problem because of the lack of transparency. What I find very seriously concerning as well is anti-competitive behavior when it comes to patents by drug manufacturers.…”