Dick Durbin Highlights Americans’ ‘Real Worry’ Over High Medication Costs, Urges Bipartisan Action

2 days ago

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) spoke about the high cost of prescription drugs.

Transcript

00:00Thanks very much Chairman Grassley. If charges were leveled against the members

00:06of the United States Senate and they were accused of legislating, there is no

00:11evidence to show it. This is our fifth month of session this year. We've had

00:16five bills on the floor of the Senate. Five. I want to thank Chairman Grassley

00:22for this hearing. This is a bipartisan issue. This is one where Democrats and

00:27Republicans, through your leadership Mr. Chairman and others, can really bring a

00:31measure to the floor that Americans give a damn about. The high cost of prescription

00:36drugs. It's a real worry for people as to how they're going to pay for the things

00:40that they need to keep themselves healthy and to avoid some terrible outcomes.

00:45People in the United States pay the highest prescription drug prices in the

00:49world. The highest in the world. On average four times more than people in

00:55similar countries pay for brand name medications. Four times. Democrats took

01:00the first step to address this issue three years ago by passing the Inflation

01:04Reduction Act. It wasn't popular on that side of the aisle, but we passed it. Among

01:09other things, this law capped the price of insulin at $35 a month. It set a $2,000

01:15limit on annual out-of-pocket expenses for seniors. $2,000 a year. Still a lot of money

01:21for a person on a limited income, but at least it's a figure that they can think

01:26about and budget for. And it led the executive branch to negotiate with Big

01:30Pharma to lower prices under Medicare. Something President Biden used to reduce

01:36selected drug prices by up to 79%. All that without a single vote from the other

01:43side of the aisle. Between those critical reforms, there's much more work we can do on

01:48a bipartisan basis. Wouldn't it be something if we announced we're going to take one whole

01:52week and invite all the good bills you've mentioned and others to come to the floor.

01:58Let's debate them and vote them up or down. Almost like legislating. One place to start.

02:05Big Pharma spends billions of dollars to flood the airwaves with ads. You can't miss them.

02:11Patients tell their doctors they need drugs that they can hardly pronounce. Xarelto? Congratulations,

02:17America, for being able to pronounce the name of that drug. So they can go skiing, golfing,

02:22and whitewater rafting. I'm looking forward to it. Only one other developed country in the world

02:28permits these outrageous ads that fuel demand for high-cost drugs. You know what it is. New Zealand.

02:35Chairman Grassley and I have a simple bill to require direct-to-consumer drug ads to disclose

02:41the price charged by the drug company. That's basic. Basic transparency to inform America.

02:48And it's been supported by President Trump and the Vice President as well. Well, we ought to pass it this year.

02:55Another area in need of reform is the topic of today's hearing. Pharmacy Benefit Managers, or PBMs.

03:02Take any American at random on the street and ask him what the hell a PBM is. Do they make the drugs? No.

03:09Do they prescribe the drugs? No. But they're a key part of pricing those drugs in America.

03:16They're the service middlemen that extract colossal profits from patients, doctors, and pharmacies.

03:22The big three PBMs, CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and OptumRx dominate the market, control the flow of prescriptions

03:32for more than 200 million Americans, and people on the street couldn't even identify who they are.

03:37Over the years, several large insurers, PBMs, and pharmacies have merged, creating vast conglomerates

03:44that ignore conflicts of interest at the expense of the patient's pocketbook in health.

03:49They engage in self-dealing to steer patients to a PBM's preferred pharmacy, and they squeeze out small,

03:56rural pharmacies, not just in Iowa, but Illinois, too, with low-ball payments.

04:01PBMs also abuse rebates and fees to manipulate their formularies, ensuring that they, not the doctors,

04:09decide which drugs patients receive.

04:12Have you ever had your cancer treatment delayed while you waited for prior authorization on your medication?

04:19Thank a PBM.

04:21Have you been told you've reached a limit for the EpiPens you rely on to keep your child safe?

04:26Thank a PBM.

04:28So who is the cop on the beat?

04:30Isn't there a federal agency that can address these abuses?

04:34As it turns out, there is.

04:36It's called the Federal Trade Commission, and under the last chairman, they led the effort to investigate these abusive practices.

04:43The FTC even filed suit against the big three PBMs for their anti-competitive and unfair practices on insulin pricing.

04:51But in a brazen and plainly illegal move, I'm afraid this administration fired the two Democratic commissioners that stopped the progress of this case.

05:00If this committee cares about addressing PBM abuses that make prescription drugs unaffordable, then every member should speak out against these illegal firings.

05:11But enforcement's not the only answer.

05:13We need legislation.

05:15We need a legislative solution to address these tactics by PBMs.

05:19Better yet, we need a bipartisan, broad support for it.

05:24Congress came together, House and Senate, Democrats and Republicans, to craft a package to reform the PBM industry.

05:31Who would stop such a package, reform of PBMs, finally getting control of prices?

05:37Elon Musk.

05:39Last December, hours before a vote on this PBM agreement as part of the year-end continuing resolution,

05:45Elon Musk, with his chainsaw, unleashed a barrage of tweets opposing the package.

05:51The House Republicans caved.

05:53That was it.

05:54Relief for the struggling independent pharmacy in rural Illinois or rural Iowa was delayed because the world's richest man didn't like the bill.

06:03Never mind that five days after tanking PBM reform, health policy expert Elon Musk tweeted,

06:10What is a pharmacy benefit manager?

06:13That was his tweet.

06:15I hope today's hearing builds on the bipartisan package of patent and competition reform bills we advanced earlier this year.

06:23But if we want to deliver real relief at the pharmacy counter, it's going to require Republicans and Democrats to stand up to Elon Musk and his chainsaw looking to cut anything in sight.

06:34I want to thank the chairman for calling this hearing.

06:37The turnout shows the level of interest.

06:39It also shows an opportunity for Republicans in the majority and Democrats in the minority to finally get down to work and legislate.

06:46Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

06:48If you have put Tao Teichel in the governor's face to мой captor, I wish you get established or have warmth on your foundation and youל re-assist in any agreement with the Japanese personnel.

07:02Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

07:04Please put it had a summary of what you had mentioned, so please put the table at the end and the table where you have detailed information for David Allen Maher and Jacob.