Senator Hassan Statement on Updated Bipartisan Bill to Lower Prescription Drug Prices

WASHINGTON – Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, released the following statement after Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) today released an updated version of the bipartisan Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act of 2019, which Senator Hassan helped advance through the Finance Committee in July.

The landmark bill would enact a cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for Medicare Part D beneficiaries and crack down on pharmaceutical companies that raise drug prices higher than inflation. The updated bill includes an agreement to fund critical, expiring health care programs (details regarding the health extender provisions can be found HERE). The bipartisan bill has been endorsed by the White House as well as patient groups including AARP, the Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing, and Patients for Affordable Drugs Now.

“I’m really encouraged that we were able to finally pass a major bipartisan bill through the Senate Finance Committee this summer to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable and lower drug prices, and these updates make the bill even stronger,” Senator Hassan said. “If there’s one concern I hear more than any other from my constituents – no matter where I go, whether someone’s a Republican or a Democrat – it’s the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs, and we need to get this bipartisan bill across the finish line without delay.”

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