[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 119 (Tuesday, July 16, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S4835]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Prescription Drug Costs

  Mr. President, 2 weeks ago, people in Michigan and across the country 
were getting ready to celebrate the Fourth of July.
  Families were deciding what to take on picnics and planning a day on 
the water, particularly if you were in Michigan, on the Great Lakes, 
and were finding the very best possible place to watch the community 
fireworks display--and we have many great fireworks displays.
  So what were drug companies doing to celebrate?
  Well, nothing so wholesome, I am afraid. Instead, they were raising 
prices on prescription medications--prices that are already the highest 
in the world.
  People in the United States have the highest prices in the world. 
Happy Independence Day.
  On July 1 alone, just 1 day, 20 companies ratcheted up the price of 
40 of their prescription drugs by an average of more than 13 percent--
just in 1 day.
  Those companies aren't alone. Already this year, prices have gone up 
for more than 3,400 different medications. The average price hike was 
five times the rate of inflation.
  I know families in Michigan, seniors in Michigan, would love to have 
their incomes, their wages go up five times the rate of inflation, but 
that certainly didn't happen. It is getting harder and harder for the 
average Michigan family to afford the medications they need to get and 
stay healthy, and I know that is true all across the country. I know 
because I hear about it every day.
  I know we hear these stories every day. I hear this from friends and 
family and certainly people as I am moving and traveling throughout 
Michigan. Some folks skimp on groceries--it is still happening today--
or put off paying their electric bill or their gas bill. Other people 
take their heart medication every other day instead of every day, 
which, by the way, is dangerous to do. Still others cut back on 
insulin, putting their lives at risk. We had testimony before the 
Finance Committee from a mom whose son did that and lost his life.
  Perhaps nobody has been hurt more than our seniors. Seniors tend to 
live on fixed incomes, as we know--pensions and Social Security. They 
also tend to have more medications than younger people, and costs 
quickly add up.
  In 2017 alone, the average price of brand-name drugs that seniors 
often take rose at four times the rate of inflation, according to 
AARP--four times the rate of inflation in 1 year--for the average 
medication a senior citizen is using. That is one of the reasons why 72 
percent of seniors in a recent poll said they are very concerned about 
the cost of their medications.
  It is absolutely shameful that people in America, one of the richest 
countries in the world, are going without the medicine they need to 
survive. We can fix that. This does not have to happen.
  I have always believed healthcare is a basic human right and that it 
includes medicine. Over and over again, I say on the Senate floor: 
Healthcare is not political. For a senior, for a family, for a child, 
it is personal. It is personal.
  We need to do something about it, and the No. 1 way we know we can 
bring prices down is to let Medicare negotiate--let Medicare 
negotiate--for prescription drugs. Harness the full power of tens of 
millions of seniors and people with disabilities across the country who 
are on Medicare to bring down the prices.
  We know negotiation can work because it works for the VA. We know 
that. The VA--Veterans' Administration--is allowed to negotiate the 
price of prescription drugs and, on average, saves 40 percent--40 
percent--compared to Medicare.
  In fact, if Medicare paid the same prices as the VA, it could have 
saved $14.4 billion on just 50 of the most commonly used drugs in 2016 
alone--in 1 year, $14.4 billion on just 50 commonly used medications. 
This is according, again, to the AARP.
  So what is stopping us?
  Well, we have the biggest lobby in the world called the 
pharmaceutical lobby in DC. The fact is, in 2018, there were 1,451 
lobbyists for the pharmaceutical and health product industry. That is 
almost 15 for every 1 of us as Senators.
  Their job--and they do it extremely well--is to stop competition and 
to keep prices high.
  Back in 2003, Medicare Part D was signed into law. I had worked very 
hard as a new Member of the Senate to have Medicare cover prescription 
drugs, but in the end, they blocked Medicare from harnessing the 
bargaining power of 43 million American seniors in order to bring down 
prices. Unfortunately, our Republican colleagues supported that.
  Sixteen years later, pharmaceutical companies are still doing 
everything they can to put profits before people. One of those people 
is Jack, who lives in Constantine, MI, and was diagnosed with cancer 
late last year.
  Imagine being told you have cancer and then being told the drug you 
need to treat it is going to cost you $15,000 the first month--$15,000. 
Jack was lucky. A generic drug became available. However, that drug 
still cost $3,400 the first month and $400 every month after that. That 
is about $8,000 a year. In Jack's words, it is an ``extreme 
hardship''--$8,000 a year--trying to figure out how to be able to have 
your cancer medication so you can continue to live.
  Jack added: ``I hope and pray you and your colleagues on both sides 
of the aisle would be able to get something done.''
  We can get something done, and we can do it quickly. The best thing 
is to let Medicare negotiate and harness the bargaining power of 43 
million people. There are various proposals that are good proposals and 
are being talked about. We can cap increases, but that doesn't cut 
prescription drug costs right now. If we are going to seriously talk 
about making medicine affordable and do it the right way--do it the 
right way and the way we know that will work--it is about letting 
Medicare negotiate. Let Medicare negotiate.
  I think it is time to take Jack's advice. We need to work together. 
We need to put people above profits. We need, very simply, rather than 
moving the chairs around on the Titanic, to harness the bargaining 
power of 43 million Americans and get the best price for them. They 
deserve it.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cruz). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.