[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 167 (Tuesday, October 22, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S5934]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Prescription Drug Costs

  Mr. THUNE. Madam President, over in the House today, the Ways and 
Means Committee is marking up Speaker Pelosi's drug bill, the latest 
installment in Democrats' campaign for government-run healthcare.
  Like Democrats' other plan for government takeover of healthcare, the 
so-called Medicare for All vote, the Pelosi drug bill will ultimately 
leave Americans worse off when it comes to access to care.
  There is no question that the American healthcare system isn't 
perfect. High drug costs are a problem, and one in four seniors reports 
difficulty affording medications. Stories of patients being forced to 
ration pills or abandon their prescriptions at the pharmacy counter are 
unacceptable, but upending the entire American healthcare system is not 
the answer.
  A strong majority of Americans are happy with their health insurance 
coverage and the quality of the healthcare they receive. Americans have 
access to treatments that individuals in other countries simply don't 
have access to. Take cancer drugs, for example. Between 2011 and 2018, 
82 new cancer drugs became available. U.S. patients have access to 96 
percent of those new drugs. In Germany, by contrast, patients have 
access to just 73 percent of those new cancer drugs. In France, it is 
just 66 percent, and in Japan, patients have access to only 54 percent 
of these new cancer drugs. In other words, Japanese patients are 
missing out on access to roughly half of the new cancer drugs that 
emerged between 2011 and 2018.
  So why do Americans have such tremendous access to new drugs while 
other countries trail behind? Because the U.S. Government doesn't 
dictate drug prices or drug coverage. That is also the reason American 
companies lead the world in medical innovation.
  Back in 1986, investment in drug research by European drug companies 
exceeded U.S. investment by approximately 24 percent, but all of that 
changed--all of that changed--when European governments stepped in and 
started imposing price controls.
  Today, European investment in drug research and development is almost 
40 percent lower than U.S. investment. It was 24 percent higher in 
1968, and, today, it is 40 percent lower.
  Speaker Pelosi's bill would start the process of destroying the 
system that has produced so much access and innovation for American 
patients. Her legislation would impose government price controls on as 
many as 250 medications.
  If progressives in her caucus have their way, the bill would impose 
government price controls on all medications. Either way, the result is 
likely to look much the same as we have seen before--reduced access to 
lifesaving treatments and substantially reduced investment for the 
prescription drug breakthroughs of the future.
  Under the Pelosi bill, Americans could look forward to a future where 
we might be the ones losing out on a quarter or more of the new cancer 
drugs that are coming to market.
  There is no question that we need to find solutions to drive down 
drug costs, but the answer to the problem of high drug costs is not to 
destroy the system that has given American patients access to so many 
new cures and treatments.
  Republicans want to develop bipartisan legislation focused on 
lowering prescription drug costs without--without--destroying the 
American system of access and innovation.
  The Senate Finance Committee, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, 
and Pensions Committee, and the Senate Judiciary Committee have spent a 
lot of time this year working on this issue, and work on truly 
bipartisan solutions remains ongoing.
  Earlier this year, House committees advanced drug pricing legislation 
on a bipartisan basis, but, unfortunately, House Democrats have made it 
clear that they are more interested in playing politics than in 
cooperating on legislation to address the challenges that are facing 
American families.
  Democrats know that the Pelosi drug bill has no chance of passing the 
Senate, but they have chosen to pursue this socialist fantasy instead 
of working with Republicans to develop a bipartisan prescription drug 
bill that isn't just price controls and that might actually go 
somewhere.
  Like the Democrats' larger socialist fantasy, Medicare for All, the 
Pelosi drug bill will ultimately hurt the very people it is supposed to 
help, in this case, by restricting their access to lifesaving drugs and 
future prescription drug innovations. The Pelosi drug bill is a bad 
prescription for the American people.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.