WASHINGTON, DC – Ways and Means Committee Republican Leader Kevin Brady (R-TX), Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Greg Walden (R-OR), Education and Labor Committee Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (R-NC), and Judiciary Committee Republican Leader Doug Collins (R-GA) today released legislation – the Lower Costs, More Cures Act (H.R. 19) – to lower drug costs for Americans without limiting access to cures.

“Americans pay too much for prescription drugs and it’s not right – Congress needs to step up. House Democrats and Republicans have agreed on bipartisan solutions that can become law in 2019, which will lower costs at the drug counter for patients and seniors. The Lower Costs, More Cures Act uses bipartisan reforms to lower out-of-pocket spending, protect access to new medicines and cures, strengthen transparency and accountability, and champion competition,” said Brady, Walden, Foxx, and Collins. “This contains measures with bipartisan support in the House and Senate, can become law, and deserves a vote. Meanwhile, Speaker Pelosi’s partisan drug pricing scheme is not only bad policy, it’s never going to become law. We’re all here to get things done for the American people, so let’s get this done, and let’s do it now.”

The Lower Costs, More Cures Act:

• Encourages innovation of groundbreaking new cures, promotes more low-cost options for patients, and curbs how drug companies can game of the system.
• Provides first-ever out-of-pocket cap for seniors in the Medicare Part D program.
• Caps the cost of insulin for seniors in the Medicare Part D program.
• Increases transparency and removes uncertainty at the pharmacy counter.
• Cuts the cost of drug administration, including cancer treatment, for Medicare beneficiaries by as much as half.
• Stops subsidizing other developed countries’ health care through stronger trade agreements.
• Includes policy that has bipartisan, bicameral support and could be signed into law today.

Speaker Pelosi’s H.R. 3:

• “H.R. 3 could lead to as many as 100 fewer drugs entering the United States market over the next decade, or about one-third of the total number of drugs expected to enter the market during that time.” (White House Council of Economic Advisers)
• H.R. 3 would “reduce by 88% the number of drugs brought to market by small and emerging companies in California alone.” (California Life Sciences Association)
• “Doesn’t do the trick. FEWER cures! FEWER treatments! Time for the Democrats to get serious about bipartisan solutions to lowering prescription drug prices for families.” (President Donald Trump)

CLICK HERE for a section-by-section summary of the Lower Costs, More Cures Act.

CLICK HERE for legislative text of the Lower Costs, More Cures Act.