Washington, D.C.–U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho),
Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, delivered the following
remarks at a hearing entitled, “Prescription Drug Price Inflation: An Urgent
Need to Lower Drug Prices in Medicare.”
The text of Ranking Member
Crapo’s remarks, as prepared, is below.
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to all of our
witnesses for being here today.
“Congress plays an important role in ensuring access to
affordable prescription drugs for Americans from all walks of life. To
that end, last year, I reintroduced the Lower Costs, More Cures Act.
“This comprehensive legislation contains dozens of concrete
proposals aimed at lowering out-of-pocket costs at the pharmacy counter, in
addition to strengthening supply chain oversight and combating foreign
freeloading. With inflation at forty-year highs, straining family
finances for far too many Americans, the Lower Costs, More Cures Act would
bring peace of mind to seniors across the nation by placing a hard cap on
out-of-pocket drug spending under Medicare Part D.
“Our bill would allow beneficiaries to access additional
Part D plan choices, including low-deductible and reduced cost-sharing options,
as well as plans that pass more discounts directly to consumers at the pharmacy
counter. For seniors with diabetes, we would build on the work of the
Trump Administration, which established a game-changing program that guarantees
access to insulin at no more than $35 a month. Our legislation would
permanently protect and extend this initiative, which already covers more than
two in every five seniors enrolled in Part D.
“Nearly two decades ago, I joined bipartisan majorities in
both chambers in voting to enact Medicare’s prescription drug benefit.
Since then, Part D has achieved incredible success, coming in at half of its
projected cost, with stable premiums, high satisfaction rates, and more than
fifty plan options for the average enrollee.
“The Lower Costs, More Cures Act would build on these
successes, advancing scores of pro-patient solutions for Medicare and the broader
prescription drug market. Our legislation would strengthen cost
comparison tools, remove disincentives for prescribing lower-cost medications,
enlist a Chief Pharmaceutical Negotiator to drive better trade deals for
Americans, and facilitate outcomes-based arrangements for cutting-edge
therapies, to name just a few key provisions.
“Importantly, all of these solutions could pass both
chambers of Congress with overwhelming support. Virtually every provision
in the Lower Costs, More Cures Act reflects a bipartisan proposal with broad
buy-in across the political spectrum. This bill, if allowed to advance,
could head to the President’s desk within days, delivering meaningful relief to
Americans.
“Unfortunately, all signs seem to indicate a partisan path
forward on drug pricing, based on the deeply problematic policies included in
the House-passed Build Back Better Act. These proposals would impose
bureaucratic government price controls with a host of bad consequences for
consumers, patients, and small businesses.
“According to a recent study from University of Chicago
researchers, innovative R&D would decline by nearly one-fifth under these
proposed price controls, leading to a staggering 135 fewer new drug approvals
in the next two decades.
“Another report found that Medicare payments for physicians
and other frontline health care providers would also fall under the proposed
government price-setting program, with add-on payments slashed by an average of
40 percent for those targeted. These policies, which borrow from the
failed experiments of the past, would do nothing to tame inflation. In
fact, they would trigger higher launch prices for new medications.
“By enacting these drug price controls, we would hand a
competitive edge to our global rivals, including the Chinese Communist Party.
At home, we would see fewer new treatments and cures, higher prices for
new drugs, more health care provider strain and burnout, and an alarming
expansion of the federal bureaucracy, giving Washington, D.C. more control over
our health care system.
“We have a responsibility to pursue solutions that reduce
out-of-pocket drug spending, particularly for seniors. The Lower Costs,
More Cures Act provides a practical blueprint for this type of initiative,
leveraging targeted policies with bipartisan backing to address the needs of
Americans at the pharmacy counter, the hospital, and the doctor’s office.
“In the weeks ahead, we should move toward consensus-driven
legislation with broad buy-in, rather than partisan price controls likely to
double down on the most deficient aspects of our health care system.
“We also need to identify policies that tackle the root
causes and drivers of inflation, which rose to a staggering 7.9 percent rate,
year-over-year, last month. This means reducing our crippling deficit;
unleashing American energy; streamlining costly regulations that have strained
small businesses; and protecting the tax reforms implemented under the Tax Cuts
and Jobs Act of 2017, which led to record-high levels of business investment,
historic lows in unemployment and poverty, and record-high incomes during the
past Administration.
“With that, I thank our witnesses again for joining us and
testifying today. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.”