Ten years ago, I testified before Congress about out-of-control prescription drug pricing. Three years after my testimony, my oldest child was born with asthma and a life-threatening nut allergy. As I've worked hard to ensure his health and well-being over the past seven years, it’s made me sad to see that drug pricing has only gotten worse.

Every time I head to the pharmacy to buy the lifesaving medications that my son needs, I'm confronted with sticker shock. I have good health insurance, but the EpiPens that could save his life from anaphylactic shock often still cost $100 per refill.

Many families have it far worse. I know that the parents of dozens of my son’s classmates simply can't afford to pay for this lifesaving medication. So they cut corners: They let the drugs run well past their expiration date, or they simply go without and pray for the best. Nearly a quarter of all Americans report having trouble filling a needed prescription due to increased costs. And yet the costs keep climbing. How can that be?

Are you or someone you know struggling to get the health care or medicine you need? Sign our petition to demand lawmakers protect affordable drug prices and take our quick survey. We’ll anonymize your response and share back select responses with this community.

Skyrocketing pharmaceutical prices are a result of overlapping market failures and monopolies. When you visit the pharmacy to fill a prescription, there are three or four distinct entities (the manufacturers, the pharmacies, the pharmacy benefit managers, and insurers) taking a cut from your purchase.

Among the worst actors is Big Pharma, which benefits from an untenable patent system that gives corporations way too much power over the production and distribution of prescription drugs, choking off competitors and allowing them to set prices astronomically high. 

Of course, a system in which wealthy people can afford the best care while more than half of Americans delay or go without treatment cannot stand. The people have started to demand real change: A 2018 Harvard/POLITICO poll found that four out of five Americans want Congress to lower prescription drug prices.

And they want those lower prices now: Poll respondents from both political parties ranked controlling medicine costs as their top priority for 2019. That demonstrates the kind of political will that can't be ignored forever. When parents can't provide for the safety of their own children, they start to fight back.

So that’s why I’m asking this community to demand action and share your story right now: Will you add your name to demand lawmakers protect affordable drug prices? We have a short survey after, and we’ll anonymize your responses and share back select quotes with this community.