Tim Kaine: “I rise with my colleagues to just tell stories I am hearing from Virginians. Having completed a campaign last November…”

“I rise with my colleagues to just tell stories I am hearing from Virginians. Having completed a campaign last November, I was out doing a lot of listening and have continued to do a lot of listening since then. In your own mind, you kind of categorize the stories, and, first, above all else, are stories about healthcare. I hear stories about a lot of things, but I hear stories about healthcare probably as much as all other areas combined. In the area of healthcare, the issue of the price of prescription drugs is No. 1. Hundreds of Virginians have reached out to me to let me know about the high cost of prescription drugs and how that affects not only their health but even their ability to put food on their table or a roof over their heads. Today I want to share some stories from Virginians and then talk about some commonsense legislation and a present opportunity to bring drug prices down. Andrew from Great Falls shared this story with me. His father was being treated for CML, which is a leukemia that is effectively curable, and he was prescribed the drug Gleevec. Now, this story goes back a little bit, and here is what Andrew said: In the United States, Gleevec costs approximately $159 to manufacture for a year's dose. That is the manufactured cost. In India, a generic version of this drug costs about $400 a year to purchase for use. In Canada, the price is around $8,800 a year for a generic of the drug, and $38,000 a year for the branded drug.…”