WASHINGTON — As the price of prescription drugs continue to rise in the U.S., a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Capitol Hill are teaming up to try to address the problem.

Senators Rick Scott (R-Florida) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) are proposing legislation to rein in the cost of medications developed with taxpayer money.

Under the We Protect American investment in Drugs (PAID) Act of 2019, companies which have received research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or other federal agencies would be required to offer reasonable prices to consumers.

“This could save my life. I have an incurable blood cancer,” said David Mitchell, the founder of Patients for Affordable Drugs, an independent nonprofit organization that advocates for lowering the price of prescription drugs.

Mitchell has multiple myeloma, a cancer which is treatable with some of the most innovative prescription drugs, but they come with hefty price tags.

“Some of the most expensive new treatments for blood cancer came to market at $500,000,” Mitchell explained.

“These drugs that we are investing in, that are coming to market at prices as high as $2.1 million — the problem is that there are 400 clinical trials underway for these exciting cell and gene therapies, and if they all come to market for $1 million or $2 million, we won’t be able to pay for it. We invested our own money as taxpayers to develop something to save lives that we won’t be able to afford,” he added.

Mitchell has challenged lawmakers to come up with a solution and has helped shape the legislation that has recently been introduced.

“I’m hoping it will have a big impact,” said Sen. Scott said in an interview with Spectrum News.

What Kind of Impact Could the Bill Make?

Scott is teaming up with Sen. Van Hollen across the aisle to introduce legislation that would place price caps on medications, developed and researched, using billions of taxpayer dollars.

A recent study found all of the drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration from 2010 to 2016 relied on some type of support from the NIH.

“We’re spending almost $40 billion of your taxpayer money to research, and they eventually use some of it for drugs,” Scott explained.

"It’s pretty basic sense. We use your taxpayer money, you should get a fair price on your drugs,” he added.

The bipartisan legislation would establish a “Drug Affordability and Access Committee” to determine whether prices set by drug companies are fair.

According to Van Hollen, the committee would be comprised of stakeholders but would aim to prevent too much industry influence in setting the prices.

“It will use a number of criteria — how much did the drug company invest? How much did taxpayers invest? How much would it cost to manufacture? How do we ensure that there’s a fair return for the drug company for its investment, but also setting a price that would render it accessible and affordable for patients?” Mitchell said.

If passed, the legislation would only seek to regulate future drugs on the market, which would apply to about 20-25 percent of prescription drugs.

Although, the bill has bipartisan support, it is likely to face some opposition.

"The drug companies are not going to give away that power to set prices as high as they want,” Mitchell explained.

However, that is not discouraging lawmakers like Scott.

“We’re going to work hard to get this passed,” Scott explained.

“There are people that work across the aisle, and I’m looking forward to working with Sen. Van Hollen about getting this done, because it’s common sense. Republicans and Democrats should both be for it, because it helps people in every state in this country,” he said.

Mitchell also remains optimistic that the research and innovation being funded with taxpayer dollars could eventually lead to a cure for his disease.

"I’ve already failed on three of the main drugs, and there are only so many more left for me,” Mitchell explained.

“If we get the cure, but the cure isn’t accessible for patients, then we fail,” he said.