More work to do on prescription drugs

On Dec. 12, the U.S. House of Representative took a vital step to lower prescription drug costs and passed the Lower Drug Costs Now Act. This bipartisan bill offers real relief to the millions of Americans who struggle to afford their needed medications. The bill would allow Medicare to use its buying power to negotiate lower drug prices, create an out-of-pocket cap for seniors in Medicare Part D and crack down on excessive drug price increases.

AARP has been tracking drug prices for 12 years. For each year, the price for prescription drugs has increased much faster than inflation. That’s why AARP CT thanks U.S. Reps. DeLauro, Larson, Courtney, Himes and Hayes on behalf of our 600,000 local members for voting “Yes” to rein in the out-ofcontrol prices of prescription drugs.

It should come as no surprise that many AARP members tell us they can’t afford the medications they need and are forced to make difficult choices as a result. In a recent survey of voters age 50 and older, four out of 10 people responded that they did not fill a prescription their doctor ordered them to take due to the cost. Here in Connecticut, AARP staff have heard from older residents who have rationed medication, driven to Canada to fill prescriptions at lower prices or decided to stop taking medication altogether due to the cost.

One of the people we’ve heard from is Novlette, a West Hartford resident. Even with Medicare’s prescription drug coverage, Novelette was struggling to pay $416 per month for a heart medication called Entresto. She had decided to stop taking the medication — which would likely have been fatal — when her physician stepped in and helped her access enough coupons and samples to get through a few months. It wasn’t until Congressman Larson’s office intervened on her behalf that she was able to access a prescription drug card that has helped her purchase the medication at a more reasonable price. This is not a smart or sustainable way to give people access to the medication they need to stay alive, and Novlette and other Connecticut residents deserve better.

It’s not just patients like Novlette who pay for Big Pharma practices that help keep drug prices high— it’s also taxpayers. The AARP Public Policy Institute released a new analysis in October 2019 that showed Medicare (meaning beneficiaries and taxpayers) spent an extra $110 billion in recent years on drug price increases that exceeded inflation. Imagine how those savings could have been used to protect Medicare for years to come.

As we wait for the U.S. Senate to take up the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, action is also needed on the state level. In 2019, state Sen. Matt Lesser and Rep. Sean Scanlon emerged as leading voices to lower prescription drug prices, and we look forward to their continued leadership on this issue in 2020. AARP CT has joined Lesser, Scanlon and dozens of other supportive legislators around the state in recent months for community conversations about high drug prices. These conversations have made clear that lowering drug prices is an urgent and bipartisan issue, and AARP expects legislators to do the right thing and pass substantive prescription drug prices reduction legislation in the coming months.

We thank Connecticut’s U.S. representatives for their vote to lower prescription drug prices, and we applaud state legislators on both sides of the aisle who have expressed their support for taking action during Connecticut’s 2020 legislative session. AARP is determined to win this fight on behalf of older Americans, and we stand with all our elected officials who are committed to lowering drug prices.