South Cook News

Issued the following announcement on Dec. 12.

Congressman Dan Lipinski (IL-3) today voted to pass H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, to strengthen the health and financial security of America’s seniors and families by stopping Americans from having to pay more for their medicines than what pharmaceutical companies charge for the same drugs in other countries. 

“For working families in my district and across the country, the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs remain a real crisis that threatens their health and financial security,” said Rep. Lipinski.  “While Big Pharma pads its profits with drug prices in the United States that are three, four, or even ten times higher than what they charge for the same drugs in other countries, too many American seniors and families are being forced to make the unthinkable choice between filling a prescription and paying their bills.  This status quo is unsustainable, which is why I joined my colleagues in support of the Lower Drug Costs Now Act.”

The Lower Drug Costs Now Act levels the playing field for American patients and taxpayers: 

• Gives Medicare the power to negotiate directly with the drug companies, and creates new tools to force drug companies to the table to agree to price reductions, while ensuring seniors never lose access to the prescriptions they need. 
• Makes the lower drug prices negotiated by Medicare available to Americans with private insurance, not just Medicare beneficiaries.
• Stops drug companies 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 other countries
• 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 thousands of drugs in Medicare. 
• Reinvests the hundreds of billions of dollars in savings in the most transformational improvement to Medicare since its creation – delivering vision, dental and hearing benefits.

H.R. 3 will reduce drug costs for millions of Americans in the Third District and across Illinois:

• Breast Cancer: Illinois patients could save $46,000 off the average total cost of the breast cancer medication Ibrance per year;
• Arthritis: Illinois patients could save $30,000 off their total costs on most arthritis drugs per year;
• Multiple Sclerosis: Illinois patients could save $27,000 off their total costs on most MS drugs per year;
• Diabetes: Illinois patients could save $15,000 off the average total cost of the insulin NovoLOG Flexpen per year.

Additionally, H.R. 3’s expansion of Medicare coverage for dental, vision and hearing services represents a significant out-of-pocket savings for Illinois seniors, with:

• 111,000 Medicare beneficiaries in the Third District are estimated to gain dental benefits;
• 99,000 Medicare beneficiaries in the Third District are estimated to obtain vision benefits;
• 103,000 Medicare beneficiaries in the Third District are estimated to secure hearing benefits.