Prescription Drug Prices Are Outrageous

Would you tailgate at a Milwaukee Brewers game if a 6-pack of beer cost $28.86, brats cost $11.83 per 6-pack, and cheese cost $17.15 per pound?

Outrageous, right? Well, that would be the cost of those products if consumer prices had risen as fast as drug prices over the past 15 years. In addition to those tailgating staples, gas would cost $12.20 a gallon and milk would be $13 a gallon.

We are paying more for nearly everything today – from groceries to gas to housing. As inflation reaches its highest in 40 years, Wisconsinites and all Americans are asking what Congress can do to help them pay for the essentials they need.

For seniors, inflation is only made worse by the ever-increasing price of prescription drugs. For years Rx price increases have dwarfed even the highest rates of inflation. Just recently, Big Pharma raised prices on 800 medicines – and they have levied similar increases for decades. Every day we hear from older Wisconsinites who are forced to choose between paying for the medicines they need and paying for other essentials like food and heat.

Congress has promised for years to bring down the price of drugs. For any Senator concerned about inflation, lowering drug prices should be at the top of their to-do list. With inflation at record levels, we need them to make good on that promise now!

Unlike just about every other country in the developed world, in the U.S., pharmaceutical companies can bypass negotiations on brand name drugs and sell their products at inflated prices – a cost paid by seniors and the federal government.

It’s outrageous that Americans are forced to pay three times more than people in other countries pay for the same drugs. Especially because there is long-standing, bipartisan support for allowing Medicare to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices.

Every year, Medicare spends more than $135 billion on prescription drugs. Yet it’s prohibited by law from using its buying power to negotiate with drug companies to get lower prices. Giving Medicare the power to negotiate will save seniors and taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. That’s right, billions.

The U.S. Senate has a historic opportunity to finally lower Rx prices and bring relief to Wisconsin seniors. There will never be a better time to deliver on their promises or fair drug prices.

Lowering Rx prices will also save the government hundreds of billions of dollars. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the latest drug pricing provisions passed by the House would save $297 billion over 10 years – including $84 billion from rebates paid for excessive price hikes and $79 billion from allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices.

American families cannot afford to leave that kind of money on the table. Big Pharma has been price gouging seniors for too long. This is the Senate’s opportunity to fix the unfair system that’s rigged against Americans.

We will let our nearly 38 million members nationwide, including 807,000 here in Wisconsin, know whether the Senate does what’s right and finally votes to lower Rx prices or allows Big Pharma to win yet again. It’s time to get this done.

Martha Cranley, AARP Wisconsin State Director