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On prescription drug costs, Rubio makes a risky election year bet
Marco wants seniors and others to pay more for prescription meds. Marco does not care about his voters and only cares about the donations from drug companies.
Link to tweet
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/prescription-drug-costs-rubio-makes-risky-election-year-bet-rcna51436?cid=sm_npd_ms_tw_ma
It was one of the biggest wins in the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act: For the first time, Medicare will be empowered to negotiate the cost of some of the most expensive prescription medications with the pharmaceutical industry. Democrats have worked on this issue for nearly three decades, but Big Pharma’s lobbyists successfully stood in the way. This year, Democrats succeeded anyway.
Republicans have effectively nothing to say about health care policy, with one big exception: GOP officials and candidates are eager to undo what Democrats did on drug costs.
As we discussed two weeks ago, many House Republicans haven’t just condemned the Democratic policy breakthrough, they’ve also vowed to repeal the policy at their earliest possible opportunity. In an interesting twist, some Senate Republicans are thinking along the same lines. The Washington Post reported on Friday:
The bill itself is basically just a one-page proposal: These GOP senators want to simply roll back the clock, erasing the part of the Inflation Reduction Act that would empower the Medicare program to negotiate lower prices. The Republicans are calling their measure the “Protect Drug Innovation Act” — as if the only way to protect medicinal innovation is to keep prescription drug costs higher.
Republicans have effectively nothing to say about health care policy, with one big exception: GOP officials and candidates are eager to undo what Democrats did on drug costs.
As we discussed two weeks ago, many House Republicans haven’t just condemned the Democratic policy breakthrough, they’ve also vowed to repeal the policy at their earliest possible opportunity. In an interesting twist, some Senate Republicans are thinking along the same lines. The Washington Post reported on Friday:
Four Republican senators, including three up for reelection, have introduced a bill that would reverse a popular provision of the Inflation Reduction Act — a means to cut drug prices for Americans. Sens. Cynthia M. Lummis (Wyo.), Mike Lee (Utah), James Lankford (Okla.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) are backing a measure that could end Medicare’s ability to negotiate lower prescription drug costs and would limit Medicare recipients’ annual drug expenses at $2,000.
The bill itself is basically just a one-page proposal: These GOP senators want to simply roll back the clock, erasing the part of the Inflation Reduction Act that would empower the Medicare program to negotiate lower prices. The Republicans are calling their measure the “Protect Drug Innovation Act” — as if the only way to protect medicinal innovation is to keep prescription drug costs higher.
This should piss off seniors
4 replies
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