Congressman Steven Horsford Hosts Facebook Q&A to Highlight the #LowerDrugCostsNow Act | Congressman Steven Horsford
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Congressman Steven Horsford Hosts Facebook Q&A to Highlight the #LowerDrugCostsNow Act

October 4, 2019

Las Vegas, NV — Congressman Steven Horsford hosted a question and answer session on Facebook Live to answer questions and concerns from his constituents on H.R. 3, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act. You can watch the full video here.

"Prescription drug companies continue to hike prices without any limit—charging Americans prices that are vastly higher than what they charge for the same drug in other countries, and subjecting the U.S. to unjustified annual price hikes far above the rate of inflation," Congressman Horsford said.

"But I am working to put a stop to that abuse of American wallets and well-being. These high drug prices are forcing Nevadans to have to choose between refilling a medication and paying their gas bill, or being able to eat every day. I promise you that I am doing everything in my power, every day to move our country one step closer to ending the out-of-control price hikes of prescription drugs."

Congressman Horsford will also host a town hall on the Lower Drug Costs Now Act TOMORROW, October 5, 2019 at 11:30 a.m. at Arbor View High School.

Adjusting for inflation, in 1960 an average American family spent roughly $90 per year on prescription drugs, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Today, the same family in Nevada would spend $1,400.

With the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, House Democrats are taking bold action to level the playing field for American patients and taxpayers. This bill:

  • Ends the ban on Medicare negotiating directly with the drug companies, and creates powerful new tools to force drug companies to the table to agree to real price reductions, while ensuring seniors never lose access to the prescriptions they need.

  • Makes the lower drug prices negotiated by Medicare available to all Americans, including those with private insurance, not just Medicare beneficiaries.

  • Stops drug companies ripping off Americans while charging other countries less for the same drugs, limiting the maximum price for any negotiated drug to be in line with the average price in countries like ours, where drug companies charge less for the same drugs – and admit they still make a profit.

  • Creates a new, $2,000 out-of-pocket limit on prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries, and reverses years of unfair price hikes above inflation across more than 8,000 drugs in Medicare.

  • Reinvests in innovation and the search for new cures and treatments, using some of the savings from lowering the unjustified drug prices that are bankrolling Big Pharma's stock-buybacks to reinvest billions of dollars in the search for new breakthrough treatments and cures at NIH.

Lowering prescription drug prices remains Congressman Horsford's top legislative priority. His bill, the SPIKE Act, bipartisan legislation to stop pharmaceutical industry price gouging by requiring them to justify their large price hikes. That legislation passed the House Ways & Means Committee on a unanimous, bipartisan vote of 40-0.

Issues:Health