WATERTOWN, NY — TODAY, Friday, July 20th, at 12:30 PM, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand will visit the Samaritan Medical Center to announce the Stop Price Gouging Act, which would drive down prescription drug prices, ensure access to affordable medications for New York seniors, and penalize drug companies that raise prices of medication without justification.
Under current law, pharmaceutical companies can raise the price of their medication at any time with no justification. There is no mechanism to prevent a manufacturer from spiking the price of its drugs year after year, and pharmaceutical corporations are not required to report the increases in the price of their drugs to the public.
In January 2017, median prices for prescription medications increased by an average of nearly nine percent, about four times higher than the overall inflation rate, forcing many seniors living on a fixed income to consider going without their medication.
DATE: Â Â Â Â Â TODAY, Friday, July 20thÂ
TIME:Â Â Â Â Â Â 12:30 PM
PLACE:Â Â Â Atrium by Main Entrance Â
                Samaritan Medical Center
                830 Washington Street
                Watertown, NY 13601
Gillibrand’s legislation, the Stop Price Gouging Act, would do the following:
- Require pharmaceutical corporations to report any increases in the price of their products, as well as justification for any increases that exceed medical inflation, to the Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General, as well as to the public;
- Impose a tax penalty on corporations that engage in excessive, unjustified price increases that are proportional to the size of the price spike;
- Instruct the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a study examining how drug manufacturers establish initial launch prices and suggest best practices for monitoring new drug pricing; and
- Reinvest revenues collected from companies in future drug research and development at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Gillibrand is also pushing for Congress to act now to pass four other bills she has cosponsored that would help increase access and affordability of medications for seniors. Gillibrand is an original cosponsor of the Capping Prescription Cost Act, which would ensure that individuals and families with high prescription drug costs are protected and can access necessary medications. This legislation would cap monthly co-pays in private insurance plans for prescription drugs at $250 per person and $500 per family. The Improving Access to Affordable Prescription Drugs Act would tackle the issue of rising drug costs in the U.S. in four key areas: transparency, access and affordability, innovation, and choice and competition. The Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2017 would allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate drug prices in Medicare. The Affordable Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act would instruct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue regulations for allowing wholesalers, licensed U.S. pharmacies, and individuals to import qualifying prescription drugs manufactured at FDA-inspected facilities from licensed Canadian sellers and licensed sellers in other countries.