INABILITY TO AFFORD PRESCRIPTION DRUGS SHOULD NOT BE A DEATH SENTENCE; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 198
(House of Representatives - December 11, 2019)
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[Page H10022]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
INABILITY TO AFFORD PRESCRIPTION DRUGS SHOULD NOT BE A DEATH SENTENCE
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from
Virginia (Ms. Wexton) for 5 minutes.
Ms. WEXTON. Mr. Speaker, a constituent of mine named Josh aged out of
his parent's health insurance when he turned 26. Josh was a Type 1
diabetic and by then, his insulin cost was nearly $1,200 per month.
So he switched to over-the-counter insulin because, like so many
others, he couldn't afford the prescription brand recommended by his
doctors. Already on a tight budget, Josh was engaged and wanted to save
up some money for his wedding and building a new life with his fiancee.
His mother knew that he had changed his medication and when she would
check on him, his blood sugar would be high, but he assured her that he
was all right and the insulin was working.
He was alone at work in June of this year when he suffered a series
of strokes that would prove fatal, and it was his fiancee who found
him.
We have miracle drugs that can save lives, but they don't do any good
when the American people can't afford them.
In April, I hosted a roundtable with constituents and healthcare
providers about the skyrocketing price of diabetes medication. Nurses
and pharmacists shared stories about patients who had no option but to
ration their insulin, putting their lives and their health in serious
jeopardy.
One, who ran a free clinic, spoke about how refugees were absolutely
stunned at how much more Americans were paying for their prescription
drugs than they had in the countries that they were fleeing from.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support H.R. 3, the Elijah Cummings Lower
Drug Costs Now Act because the inability to afford necessary drugs
should not be a death sentence in the United States of America.
We are going to give HHS the power to negotiate lower drug prices for
the American people. And those lower prices will be available not only
to Medicare beneficiaries, but also to Americans with private health
insurance.
With the projected savings from this bill, nearly half a trillion
dollars, we will provide vision, dental, and hearing benefits for all
Medicare beneficiaries and invest in new medical research.
American families and seniors should not pay more for their
medications than what the drug companies charge people in other
countries.
This bill is a win for the American people. It represents a historic
investment in Medicare and historic savings on the cost of prescription
drugs. Without this legislation, the rising price of prescription drugs
will continue to take a toll on the finances of American families, and
in worst cases, cost lives.
What happened to Josh should never happen to anyone in this country.
I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this
lifesaving legislation.
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