Dear John,

First, let me wish a Happy Veterans Day to all who have served our country in the armed forces. Most veterans rely on Social Security and Medicare for a healthy and secure retirement and will benefit from the improvements the National Committee is fighting to implement in Congress.

Thanks to the pressure our members and supporters like you put on lawmakers, it now appears that prescription drug pricing reforms will be included in the budget reconciliation bill that will soon make its way to the Senate.

While these reforms are not as expansive as we would have hoped, they do represent a historic step toward taming soaring drug prices that force too many older Americans to ration pills or forgo vital medications altogether.

For months we’ve fought back against Big Pharma’s expensive lobbying and ad campaigns to kill a proposal that would allow Medicare to negotiate directly with huge drug companies for lower drug prices. And it looks like a partial victory over Big Pharma is within reach. This agreement would for the first time allow Medicare to negotiate some drugs with Big Pharma. It would also cap seniors’ out-of-pocket drug costs at $2,000 per year (the current cap is $6,500 annually).

The National Committee and other seniors’ advocacy groups have long fought for meaningful prescription drug pricing reform that puts a stop to Big Pharma’s prescription price gouging.

But this isn’t a done deal yet. While we are hopeful we can pass sorely needed relief from high drug prices, we cannot let up on this fight until a final reconciliation bill reaches President Biden’s desk for his signature.

Sincerely,

Max Richtman
President & CEO