ICYMI: Prescription Drug Prices Are Hurting Americans, Here’s The Solution

Op-ed: Prescription Drug Prices Are Hurting Americans, Here’s The Solution

By Jesse Grady, former Texas Republican National Committee (RNC) staff member

December 10, 2019

 

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Americans playing Russian roulette with their medications has prompted Congress to act, and a recently introduced bill is the solution to curbing prescription drug prices. In July, Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Wyden introduced the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act. If signed into law, the bipartisan legislation would shield Americans, especially those on fixed incomes, from high prescription drug costs by capping out-of-pocket expenses for Medicare beneficiaries and providing needed oversight on drug manufacturers. Those manufacturers would be mandated to justify their price increases and penalized for increasing their prices faster than the rate of inflation. These reforms make it difficult for the pharmaceutical companies to price gouge, and, as a result, would lead to lower prescription drug costs.

 

The bill would come as a relief to the one in four Americans who struggle to pay for their prescription drugs. It’s a growing problem that cuts through the partisan divide, which is why over 90 percent of voters agree that Congress should take action to lower prescription drug prices.

 

As a conservative, I understand why some legislators may be hesitant to have the government intervene in the free market. The prescription drug market, however, is not a free market. In fact, it’s the lack of market competition that has resulted in steep drug prices. For example, three pharmaceutical companies own 90 percent of the global insulin market; and, without competition, they were able to double the price of insulin over the past few years.

 

One would expect the price of insulin to decrease over time, considering it has been around since 1921. This is a clear example of crony capitalism.

 

The excessive concentration of life-saving products in the pharmaceutical industry has led to the most odious display of price gouging. This has resulted in the tragic practice of drug rationing, and an example of this can be seen recently with an18-year-old in Utah. Sadly, this individual secretly rationed his insulin supply after the cost increased to $800 a month. His parents caught him in time, but others weren’t as fortunate. Another example of drug rationing took place in Minnesota, where a parent found her 21-year old dead because he tried to extend his insulin supply.

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