We need to lower drug costs

Dear Neighbors,

I introduced new legislation to further lower prescription drug prices for American families and rein in pharmaceutical price gouging. Nearly one year ago, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, granting the Secretary of Health and Human Services the authority to negotiate lower drug prices for America’s seniors for the first time.

It was a historic achievement that lifted restrictions that had been in place for nearly 20 years preventing Medicare from negotiating drug prices. The law also further reduced drug prices for seniors by penalizing pharmaceutical companies that raised prices faster than the rate of inflation.

The Lowering Drug Costs for American Families Act builds on this progress by providing those same lower negotiated prices to all Americans who are covered by private health plans. It also protects consumers against unfair price hikes and increases the number of drugs Medicare can negotiate on each year, meaning lower prices on more drugs sooner. This bill is part of House Democrats’ ongoing efforts to lower health care and prescription drug costs for hardworking American families. Read more here

Update on the Shrewsbury and Navesink Rivers Dredging Project

I held a press conference this week to announce the start of a major dredging project of the Shrewsbury and Navesink Rivers. I secured $26 million for maintenance dredging of the rivers in a federal spending bill for Fiscal Year 2023 that President Biden signed into law late last year.

The Army Corps of Engineers will dredge both the entrance of the Shrewsbury and Navesink Rivers at Sandy Hook as well as the Navesink River to Red Bank and the Shrewsbury River as far as the Branchport Avenue Bridge in Long Branch – a total of approximately 14 miles. This is the federal channel that covers most of the waterway boaters use.

Safe waterways are critical to New Jersey’s recreation and fishing industries. I’ve heard from so many people in the communities along the rivers and the boaters who use the channels regularly about the importance of this project. The dredging will make the rivers safer and easier to use for them and everyone involved in fishing. Read more here

Click here to visit my website or call my offices directly if you have questions or need help with a federal agency:

Middlesex County: 732-249-8892

Monmouth County: 732-571-1140

Sincerely,

Congressman Pallone