Improving Access To Affordable Prescription Drugs Act
Public Citizen Materials on the Improving Access To Affordable Prescription Drugs Act
- Affordable Meds Act Fact Sheet
- Summary of the Act with Context
- Long-form Summary of the Act
- Short-form Summary of the Act
- Civil society sign-on letter in support of the Improving Access to Affordable Prescription Drugs Act
Add your name to the petition to #FixPharma
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Congressional Press Releases on the Improving Access To Affordable Prescription Drugs Act
- Rep. Schakowsky: Schakowsky, Cummings, DeLauro, and Welch Introduce Comprehensive Bill to Address Drug Pricing
- Sen. Franken: As Health Care Debate Shifts, Senator Franken and Senate Colleagues Lead Milestone Effort to Bring Down Prescription Drug Prices
- Sen. Klobuchar: Pro-Consumer Groups Back Klobuchar’s Bipartisan Legislation to Crack Down on Anti-Competitive Pay-for-Delay Pharmaceutical Deals
- Sen. Brown: Brown Introduces Proposal to Bring Down Prescription Drug Prices
- Sen. Baldwin: As Health Care Debate Shifts, Senator Baldwin and Senate Colleagues Lead Milestone Effort to Bring Down Prescription Drug Prices
- Sen. Hassan: Senator Hassan Joins Colleagues in Introducing Landmark Legislation to Bring Down Prescription Drug Prices
- Sen. Merkley: As Health Care Debate Shifts, Senator Franken and Senate Colleagues Lead Milestone Effort to Bring Down Prescription Drug Prices
- Sen. Udall: As Health Care Debate Shifts, Senator Franken and Senate Colleagues Lead Milestone Effort to Bring Down Prescription Drug Prices
- Sen. Booker: Booker, Franken and Senate Colleagues Lead Milestone Effort to Bring Down Prescription Drug Prices
Civil Society Endorsers of the Improving Access To Affordable Prescription Drugs Act
- Alliance for Retired Americans
- American Family Voices
- American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
- American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
- American Medical Student Association (AMSA)
- Center for Medicare Advocacy
- Corporate Accountability International
- CREDO Action
- DailyKos
- Doctors for America
- Families USA
- Housing Works
- Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR)
- International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW)
- MoveOn
- The Nation
- National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare
- National Physicians Alliance
- NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
- Other98
- People Demanding Action
- People for the American Way (PFAW)
- People of Faith for Access to Medicines (PFAM)
- Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP)
- Public Citizen
- Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
- Social Security Works
- Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM)
Press Release: Landmark Legislation Would Lower U.S. Prescription Prices
Public Citizen Applauds Sweeping Bicameral Legislation to Increase Access to Medications for U.S. Consumers and Hold Pharmaceutical Corporations Accountable for Wrongdoing
March 29, 2017
Contact: Don Owens, dowens@citizen.org, (202) 588-7767
Karilyn Gower, kgower@citizen.org, (202) 588-7779
WASHINGTON, D.C. – At a time when the majority of Americans think that lowering the cost of prescriptions should be a top health care priority for the Trump administration and Congress, Public Citizen applauded U.S. Sen. Al Franken’s (D-Minn.) introduction today of the “Improving Access to Affordable Prescription Drugs Act.”
Among other reforms, the legislation would curb the monopoly abuses of pharmaceutical corporations that keep prices high, penalize companies that engage in price gouging, finally allow Medicare to negotiate fair prices for seniors, cap out-of-pocket medicine costs in health insurance plans and require transparency from the pharmaceutical industry.
“This is one of the most comprehensive reforms of the pharmaceutical industry ever proposed,” said Peter Maybarduk, director of Public Citizen’s Access to Medicines Program. “Medical treatment rationing is a painful reality for millions of Americans. Americans are splitting pills, skipping pills and making impossible decisions about when we can afford to pay for groceries versus when we can afford to pay for the medical care our families need. The core problem is monopoly power. We can change it and make medicine affordable for all. This legislation is a deep challenge to the corrosive political influence of the pharmaceutical industry.”
Added Steven Knievel, advocate for Public Citizen’s Access to Medicines Program, “Rather than take away health insurance and essential benefits from millions of Americans, Congress should take action and pass this legislation. It is morally wrong that some people do not have access to the medicines they need to lead healthy and productive lives, particularly given that our country pays the pharmaceutical industry $457 billion annually. Enough is enough.”
Public Citizen and allies, representing millions of consumer and grassroots advocates, public health experts and health care providers across the country, sent a letter to Congress today urging swift passage of the measure.
“This Act is a significant step toward addressing one of the leading drivers of healthcare costs for the federal government and patients – prescription drug prices,” the letters states.
“[I]t provides a common-sense approach to tackle the urgent problem of people lacking access to the medicines they need to lead healthy and productive lives,” the letter continues. “Congress cannot afford to sit idly by while price gouging continues. We urge you to pass the Improving Access to Affordable Prescription Drugs Act without delay.”
If passed, the legislation would bring down prescription costs and effectively challenge the pharmaceutical industry’s economic and political power. It is sensible, long-needed, comprehensive and worthy of broad-based bipartisan support, Public Citizen maintains.
In addition to Franken, the legislation was introduced by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mas.s), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.) Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) in the Senate, and U.S. Reps. Janice Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) in the U.S. House of Representatives.
A section-by-section summary and context can be found here.
A section-by-section summary (long) can be found here.
The organizational support and sign-on letter can be found here.
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