Blog
September 16, 2019
WHAT WOULD REAL SOLUTIONS TO LOWER DRUG PRICES NOW LOOK LIKE?
WHAT WOULD REAL SOLUTIONS TO LOWER DRUG PRICES NOW LOOK LIKE?
The Lower Drug Prices Now coalition is fighting for transformative, bold reforms that will ensure everyone–no matter where they live, what they look like or what’s in their wallet– has access to affordable prescription medicines to meet their and their family’s needs.
It is recognized that there may be positive legislative or regulatory proposals at either the state or federal level that can improve the current system but those measures won’t be enough to stop Big Pharma’s systemic price-gouging or take away the industry’s power to set and keep prices high.
There will be proposals that seek to move in the opposite direction by furthering the power of pharmaceutical monopolies to price gouge and put life-saving medicines out of reach. We will vigorously oppose those proposals.
Real solutions must take away the drug corporations power to keep prices high, replacing the rigged rules that have allowed the pharmaceutical industry to drive up profits and put medicines out of reach.
- Any comprehensive solution must meet the following criteria: Provide a government guarantee that everyone in the United States has access to affordable medicines they need to take care of themselves and their families.
Will it give the government enforceable authority to require that pharmaceutical corporations lower prices – not just shift costs or pass the buck through higher premiums or other gimmicks?
- Ensure that no one gets left behind by toppling barriers that systematically deny people access to medicines they need, making health and racial disparities even worse.
Will it lower drug prices for all individuals and all families, regardless of where they live, their race or gender, how or whether they are insured, their income or their health status?
- Create fair rules that hold drug corporations accountable for practices that directly and indirectly keep prices unjustifiably high and deny patients medicine.
Will it rein in drug corporations’ monopoly and financial power to price gouge and stop consumer abuses that boost profits at the expense of people’s health through mechanisms like government negotiations?
- Ensure that taxpayer investments and government incentives are used to develop new medicines that best serve the public good.
Will it ensure government funding and incentives prioritize medical breakthroughs, innovations and cures — rather than those that primarily extend monopolies and increase corporate profits?