The President's Corner: District Residents Need Relief from Rx Greed

This op-ed was published on August 11, 2019, in The Washington Informer.

By Rev. Dr. Kendrick E. Curry, AARP DC Volunteer State President (photo at right)

For decades, Big Pharma has raised drug prices with impunity. Here in the District of Columbia, the average annual cost of brand-name prescription drug treatment increased 58% between 2012 and 2017, while the annual income for District residents increased only 14.3%. Prescription drugs don’t work if patients can’t afford them.

That’s why Congress needs to pass the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act when they return from August recess. It’s time.

For too long, drug companies have been price-gouging seniors and hardworking Americans. Consider insulin, which people with diabetes rely on. Its price nearly tripled from 2002 to 2013. But it isn’t a breakthrough drug: insulin was invented nearly a century ago, yet modern formulations remain under patent, thanks to drugmakers manipulating the system. Some patients trek to Canada, while others risk their lives by rationing or skipping doses.

Even those of us who don’t need insulin or other prescription drugs are affected by skyrocketing drug prices. We pay not only at the pharmacy counter, but through higher insurance premiums, and through the higher taxes we need to pay to fund programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Older Americans are hit especially hard. Medicare Part D enrollees take an average of 4-5 prescriptions per month, and their average annual income is around $26,000. One in three Americans has not taken a medication as prescribed because of the cost.

The root cause of the problem is clear: the high prices of prescription drugs set by pharmaceutical companies when they first come on the market, which then increase faster than inflation year after year.

In March 2019, AARP launched a nationwide campaign called “Stop Rx Greed” to rein in drug prices for District residents and all Americans. The bill under consideration in the Senate would cap out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors and crack down on drugmakers whose price hikes outpace inflation. The nation clearly needs this reform: the average drug price increase in the first six months of 2019 was 10.5% — five times the rate of inflation. District residents, like all Americans, already pay among the highest drug prices in the world.

Meanwhile, Big Pharma is fighting for the status quo — and blocking needed improvements to the system that could bring relief to seniors, families, and small businesses. Drug giants Merck, Amgen and Eli Lilly actually sued the Trump administration so they could keep the list prices of their drugs secret from the public. The industry is spending record sums to hire Washington lobbyists, and they are running ads claiming that more affordable drugs will actually harm consumers.

But the tide is turning. The National Academy for State Health Policy reports that, so far this year, 29 states have passed 47 new laws aimed at lowering prices for prescription medications. Ultimately, drug costs are a national issue, so federal action is equally essential.

On Capitol Hill, there is rare bipartisan agreement that something must be done. President Trump addressed the issue in his State of the Union, saying: “It is unacceptable that Americans pay vastly more than people in other countries for the exact same drugs, often made in the exact same place. This is wrong, unfair, and together we can stop it.”

We urge the Senate to pass the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act in the fall, when the House is expected to act on its own drug pricing bill.

While there is reason to be hopeful that drug prices will come down, hope is not enough. Too much is at stake. No District resident should be forced to choose between putting food on the table or buying a lifesaving medication. Congress needs to act to stop Rx greed. This legislation should be at the top of the agenda when the Senate returns to Washington.

Why does lowering prescription drug costs matter to you? Share your story with Kendrick at DCAARP@aarp.org