Senator Hassan Joins Colleagues to Reintroduce Bipartisan Legislation to Lower Prescription Drug Prices

WASHINGTON - Senator Maggie Hassan yesterday joined Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and other colleagues in reintroducing bipartisan legislation to combat anticompetitive practices used by some brand-name pharmaceutical and biologic companies to block entry of lower-cost generic drugs. The Creating and Restoring Equal Access To Equivalent Samples (CREATES) Act would deter pharmaceutical companies from blocking cheaper generic alternatives from entering the marketplace. 

“This bipartisan legislation will help lower prescription drug costs by prohibiting the shady practices certain pharmaceutical companies use to block lower-cost generic drugs from entering the market,” Senator Hassan said. “Skyrocketing prescription drug prices are an issue I hear about all the time from Granite Staters, and I’ll keep doing everything I can to lower health care costs and hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable.”

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill would decrease the federal deficit by a net $3.9 billion. Savings to consumers and private insurers likely would be far greater.

The legislation, a version of which was introduced in the House of Representatives earlier this year, is strongly supported by a coalition of groups as diverse as AARP, American College of Physicians, FreedomWorks, Coalition for Affordable Prescription Drugs and many more. A coalition letter in support of the CREATES Act can be found here and a list of supporters here.

An outline of the CREATES Act can be found here, and text of legislation can be found here.  

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