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Dear John,
Did you notice? At the beginning of 2021, Big Pharma quietly raised the prices for hundreds of prescription drugs by an average of 3.3% (with some as high as 15%) — more than double this year’s meager Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA).
With the median income of Medicare beneficiaries hovering around $29,000 per year, it’s little wonder that so many older Americans struggle to afford life-saving medications. Except for the poorest beneficiaries, Medicare Part D has no cap on patients’ prescription cost sharing. This can add up to tens of thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket drug costs during retirement!
Moving forward, there must be swift action to tame the punishing prices that force older Americans to forgo necessary medications, to ration pills or to choose between prescription drugs and other essentials — like rent and groceries.
The government negotiates the prices of almost everything it procures, and there is no reason prescription drugs shouldn’t be included. The Veterans Administration has been negotiating with drug makers for years, saving more than 40% on prescription drug costs. The Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that the negotiation provision in the “Lower Drug Costs Now Act” would save Medicare $456 billion over a ten-year period.
That’s why the National Committee is leveraging the energy of our millions of members and supporters, including you, to fight against Big Pharma’s blatant price gouging. So please help us send strong message to members of Congress that American voters like you support the immediate passage of the “Lower Drug Costs Now Act” which would provide a powerful tool against soaring drug costs and put the public good above Big Pharma’s profits by signing our Petition today!
Sincerely,
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Max Richtman
President & CEO
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