Republicans’ Failure to Govern

Dear Neighbors,

Instead of addressing any real issue facing the American people, Marjorie Taylor Greene and House Republicans spent all week attempting to impeach Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas without any evidence of wrongdoing. Their impeachment sham collapsed on the House floor after a bipartisan vote against this partisan stunt.

As their political theater played out this week, extreme MAGA Republicans blocked border funding and the most basic attempts to fix our broken immigration system. The failed attempt to impeach Secretary Mayorkas is nothing more than a political stunt that House Republicans are using as to cover for their refusal to support the bipartisan border bill they wanted. Republicans only want to score political points for former President Trump instead of finding real, comprehensive solutions to our immigration system.

Republicans Want to Increase Prescription Drug Costs

I spoke against a Republican bill this week that would undermine the progress President Biden and Democrats have made in lowering prescription drug costs for American families. Republicans claimed this bill is intended to prevent the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) from using a measure called the Quality Adjusted Life Year, or QALY, which could be discriminatory against Americans living with disabilities. But federal law—including in the Inflation Reduction Act—already prohibits Medicare from using QALYs in its coverage determinations and state Medicaid programs are required by law to cover all drugs.

Instead, the bill opens a backdoor that could be used to bar measures federal agencies and states use to negotiate fair prices for prescription drugs, which could allow Big Pharma to raise drug prices.

The Congressional Budget Office also estimates that this bill will actually increase spending for prescription drugs in Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health programs, including the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs health programs, by $1.1 billion in the next ten years, and potentially tens of billions in the years that follow.

I’m also deeply concerned that the pharmaceutical industry will use the bill text’s ambiguity to sue in order to keep outrageously high prescription drug prices in place. We know that Big Pharma is already using similar tactics to try to fight the implementation of the Medicare drug price negotiation program enacted by the Inflation Reduction Act. This bill could give them yet another way to undermine Medicare’s ongoing work to negotiate prescription drug prices. Read more here

The Biden Administration’s New Effort to Protect Air Quality

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced this week that it will strengthen air quality standards for fine particulate matter. Fine particulate matter is dangerous and poses serious and significant health risks to our communities every day, including increased rates of heart disease and respiratory impacts. Even short-term exposure for hours or days can cause aggravated asthma attacks, acute bronchitis, and increased susceptibility to respiratory infections.

Americans have a right to clean, safe air, and this announcement is a welcome return to pollution standards rooted in science. It makes good on the Biden Administration’s commitment to putting the American people – not corporate special interests – first.

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