WASHINGTON – Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) backed the Lower Drug Costs for Families Act to make prescription drugs more affordable, hold Big Pharma accountable, and reduce the national deficit by billions of dollars. The bill, which Senator Gallego also championed in the House, would punish drug companies for raising prescription drug prices in the commercial market faster than inflation.
“No Arizonan should have to choose between life-saving medication and putting food on the table,” said Senator Gallego. “For years, Big Pharma has been getting away with jacking up prices far beyond inflation, forcing families to cut pills, skip doses, or go without care altogether. We took a major step forward with the Inflation Reduction Act to lower drug costs for seniors, but it’s time to expand those protections to all Arizonans. This bill makes sure every Arizonan, no matter their insurance, is protected from prescription price gouging.”
The legislation builds on the success of the Gallego-backed Inflation Reduction Act, which lowered drug prices for seniors on Medicare. The Lower Drug Costs for Families Act would extend these protections to all Americans, including those with private insurance and employer-sponsored plans.
Under current law, drug companies only have to pay back money if they raise their prices faster than inflation on drugs covered by Medicare. The Lower Drug Costs for Families Act would close this loophole by:
- Counting the number of drugs sold to people with private insurance when calculating penalties owed to Medicare for drug price hikes, effectively ensuring that Big Pharma faces consequences for overcharging more than 180 million Americans
- Extending Medicare solvency by returning collected fines directly to the Medicare Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund
The legislation was introduced by Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and endorsed by the AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Teachers, Patients for Affordable Drugs Now, and the United Mine Workers of America.
Read the full text of the bill HERE.
Senator Gallego has long been a champion of lowering prescription drug costs and holding Big Pharma accountable. In the House, he introduced the same legislation to fine drug companies that hike prices faster than inflation, introduced a package of bills to hold pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) accountable, and backed the Promoting Access to Treatments and Increasing Extremely Needed Transparency (PATIENT) Actto make drug pricing more transparent.