New Campaign Urges Senate Action on Prescription Drug Pricing 

Medicare Rights recently joined over 70 organizations to launch the campaign “Push For Lower Rx Prices.” The groups are calling on the Senate to advance a reconciliation package by Memorial Day that includes the drug pricing provisions in the House-passed bill.

Medicare Rights has long supported reforms to lower drug prices and costs. This includes those approved by the House that would restructure Part D to correct misaligned incentives and cap beneficiary costs, allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices, and penalize drug manufacturers for price hikes that outpace inflation. Together, these policies would achieve historic coverage and affordability gains, better ensuring that all people with Medicare have meaningful access to care.

Voters agree. A new national survey demonstrates overwhelming bipartisan support for comprehensive prescription drug reform: 83% of voters back Medicare negotiation, 77% favor limiting annual drug price increases, and 67% want Congress to take action to lower prices set by manufacturers, not just reduce out-of-pocket costs. Other recent polling from the Kaiser Family Foundation confirms that lowering prescription drug prices is the number one health care issue Americans want Congress to tackle this year.

That survey also found that high health care and prescription drug prices continue to weigh heavily on consumers. Half of all respondents delayed or went without care in the past year due to costs, and nearly one-third—including 43% of those with annual incomes under $40,000—did not fill a prescription, cut pills in half or skipped doses, or took an over-the-counter product instead of a prescription due to affordability concerns.

These findings underscore the need for swift action. Congress must immediately reform the nation’s drug pricing system in ways that will strengthen Medicare and improve beneficiary well-being. Absent such intervention, unaffordability will continue to rise, pricing an ever-growing number of Americans out of needed medications and coverage, leading to worse health outcomes and higher costs in the future.

Learn more about the Push for Lower Rx Prices campaign.

Read about the impact the House-passed drug negotiation would have on drug prices.