Golden-Backed Bill to Lower Prescription Drug Costs for Seniors Passes House
Congressman helps pass the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, which would cap yearly out-of-pocket costs and allow Medicare to negotiate lower prices for the most expensive prescription drugs
WASHINGTON — The House passed legislation today cosponsored by Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) to address rising prescription drug costs. H.R. 3, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, would limit out-of-pocket prescription drug costs paid by seniors, fund the expansion of Medicare coverage to include dental, vision, and hearing, and lower prescription drug prices for thousands of Mainers.
"Pharmaceutical corporations have taken home record profits while Mainers, especially seniors, have struggled to pay higher and higher prices for their medications," said Golden."The Lower Drug Costs Now Act takes long-overdue action to cap out-of-pocket costs for seniors, negotiate down the prices of many expensive medications, and get skyrocketing prescription costs under control. The Senate is working on their own version of this legislation, which means there is an opportunity to come together and make real, bipartisan progress on this issue for the American people."
In October, Golden joined AARP and hundreds of its members for a town hall on H.R. 3 and other efforts to lower prescription drug prices. He also penned an op-ed defending the legislation and calling out spending against the bill by dark money groups tied to Big Pharma.
According to Ways & Means Committee analysis, H.R. 3 could lower medication costs for Mainers with:
- Arthritis by $30,000 a year;
- Diabetes by $15,000 a year;
- Asthma by $1,100 a year;
- Breast cancer by $45,000 a year;
- Leukemia by $66,300 a year;
- Prostate cancer by $72,100 a year.
Find a Maine-specific fact sheet about H.R. 3 here.
In addition to lowering prescription drug costs, H.R. 3 uses budgetary savings from those provisions to fund the expansion of Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing benefits, expand the healthcare workforce, invest in biomedical research and drug development, combat the opioid epidemic, and increase funding for Community Health Centers. The legislation also includes provisions from two bills that Golden has cosponsored: the Removing Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening Act of 2019 and the Lymphedema Treatment Act of 2019.