December 11, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 198 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page H10032]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           REDUCE OUT-OF-POCKET COSTS FOR PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

  (Ms. UNDERWOOD asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, today is a historic day for patients in 
this country because today we will be voting for a piece of legislation 
that my community in northern Illinois wants urgently. It cannot wait.
  I hear about unfortunate and unaffordably high drug prices every time 
I am home. Recently, a 15-year-old boy in my district who relies on 
insulin wrote to me: ``I am concerned with what my future holds. I need 
this medicine to live, and if the costs continue to rise . . . I am 
afraid that, one day, I won't be able to get the medicine and I will 
die.''
  No one should be thinking about the possibility of death because they 
can't afford a common, live-saving medication, and the Lower Drug Costs 
Now Act delivers the reforms we critically need because the bill 
reduces out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs; it creates a new, 
$2,000 out-of-pocket limit for seniors; and it allows the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services to negotiate a fair price for the highest 
cost drugs, which will reduce private insurances premiums and out-of-
pocket costs.
  This legislation also incorporates my bill to prevent drug companies 
from making outrageous, unfair price hikes. And with the savings from 
lower drug costs, we reinvest in Medicare, expanding much needed 
hearing, dental, and vision services to seniors.
  I am proud of this bill. It is a product of countless hours of 
research and negotiation. I would like to thank the committee chairs, 
leadership members, and staff who made it possible.

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