Q&A: Making Healthcare More Affordable

Q&A: Making Healthcare More Affordable

With U.S. Sen. Grassley

Q: How would the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act help lower costs?

A: Making life more affordable is a top concern I hear from Iowans. Recurring expenses for basic necessities - such as groceries, gas, housing and childcare - can soak up the lion's share of workers' paychecks and seniors on fixed income. Paying for prescription drugs and medical expenses puts another squeeze on household budgets, making it even harder to put money into savings, let alone afford a vacation. For decades, I've worked at the policymaking tables in the Senate Finance and Judiciary Committees to shape federal policies that help patients access healthcare services they need for chronic diseases and complex medical conditions, maternal and child health services, cancer screening and treatment and lifesaving organ transplants so they can enjoy a high quality of life and longevity with their loved ones.

I'm also continuing to push for legislative reforms that would help lower healthcare costs, including a bill I'm cosponsoring called the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act. I'm glad the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee advanced this pro-patient measure to the full Senate for consideration. This is an important step to boost transparency and give patients a clear understanding about the price of their care beforehand, including X-rays, screenings, medications, surgeries and other services. Americans are savvy consumers and public, upfront pricing will boost competition and empower patients to access healthcare services with the best value. Too often, patients are at the mercy of an opaque healthcare system that effectively means they arrive to the hospital, clinic, imaging center or lab with a blank check. Throughout my years of oversight work, I'm guided by a tried and true principle: Transparency brings accountability and boosts competition. The common-sense Patients Deserve Price Tags Act codifies existing price transparency requirements which I've long supported, and strengthens them by closing loopholes, increasing oversight, and becoming more patient-focused. The bill would deliver a healthy dose of sunshine to the U.S. healthcare system and deliver cost savings to patients, employers and taxpayers. Upfront pricing and itemized billing would give patients informed purchasing power and peace of mind when they access healthcare services.

Q: How are you working to lower costs for insulin and other prescription medicines?

A: For several years, I've led the charge from the helm of the Senate Judiciary Committee to root out shenanigans in the pharmaceutical supply chain that's inflating prescription drug costs for Americans. I've cultivated several legislative measures with bipartisan coalitions in Congress to drive down prescription drug costs. In the past few years, legislation I've secured into law has saved taxpayers over $11 billion. I'm glad the Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act recently passed the full Senate, bringing it a step closer to becoming law. This bipartisan bill would help prevent patent abuse by pharmaceutical companies who game the system to delay lower-priced generic and biosimilar drugs from coming to market. I'll continue pushing to get this cost-saving bill to the president's desk.

I've got good news for the tens of millions of Americans who depend on insulin to manage diabetes. The Senate HELP Committee recently advanced a bipartisan bill I'm cosponsoring called the INSULIN Act. It would cap the cost of insulin at $35 per month for Americans on private and employer-sponsored insurance. It also would create a five-year pilot program in 10 states to help make insulin available at the same cost to Americans without insurance. This is welcome news for families struggling to pay for this life-saving medication. What's more, the comprehensive legislation would ensure patients benefit from rebates and discounts that are typically collected by Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), the middleman in the drug supply chain. Our bipartisan bill would inject competition into the category of medicine known as biologics that are comprised of complex molecules made from living organisms. That includes insulin, a century-old drug. My two-year bipartisan insulin investigation identified anticompetitive business practices between manufacturers and PBMs that's created an unsustainable cycle of price increases for patients and taxpayers. I'll continue pushing for reforms that accelerate a safe onramp for biosimilars to help lower prescription drug costs for Americans.

The safety and efficacy of prescription drugs for Americans is non-negotiable. As a cosponsor of the CLEAR LABELS Act, I welcome the overwhelming support for this bill out of the Senate HELP Committee. Our bill boosts transparency to give Americans peace of mind at the pharmacy counter. It would add country of origin labeling requirements to inform Americans where a drug is manufactured, giving pharmacists, providers and patients upfront awareness if a branded or generic drug, including their active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), is made in a foreign country. It would strengthen accountability in the drug supply chain, one of my highest policy priorities on behalf of Iowans.

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