Fellow Illinoisan,

For years, Americans have paid the highest prices in the world for medications—an average of nearly four times more than other Western countries for the exact same drugs. For example, look at Jardiance, a common diabetes medication. This drug retails for more than $700 in the United States, but costs $150 in Canada. Finally, thanks to congressional Democrats passing the Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare now has the power to negotiate cheaper prices for prescription drugs used by America’s seniors.

Earlier this month, President Biden announced the first 10 drugs to undergo price reductions from negotiations. These 10 medications cost Medicare more than $50 billion last year alone—meaning taxpayer funding for Medicare is going straight to the pockets of Big Pharma’s CEOs, executives, and shareholders.

Further, in 2022, seniors across America spent more than $3 billion on co-pays at the pharmacy counter for these 10 drugs. An estimated 132,000 seniors in Illinois each spent an average of $500 out of pocket on Eliquis, a popular blood clot medication. After decades of empty promises about lowering the cost of prescription drugs, the Inflation Reduction Act—which not a single Republican voted for—will give American families much-deserved relief.  As a result, seniors will have more money in their bank accounts and won’t have to conserve their savings by skipping doses or cutting pills in half.

Big Pharma has gamed and abused the drug pricing system in America for far too long. The pharmaceutical industry has deployed every gimmick in their playbook to drive up drug costs for Americans—spending billions on advertisements, filing lawsuit after lawsuit, and abusing the patent system to keep lower-priced competitors off the market.

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And, for decades, Republicans have sided with Big Pharma, opposing common-sense reforms to lower drug prices and even calling Medicare price negotiation, “socialist price controls.” In reality, Medicare’s new ability to negotiate medication prices is just an effective tool against Big Pharma’s purposeful price gouging.

The Inflation Reduction Act has begun to level the playing field for America’s seniors—and I’m committed to seeing it through to the end.

Sincerely,

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)

 

First Ten Drugs Subject to Medicare Price Negotiation: 

Eliquis

Jardiance

Xarelto

Januvia

Farxiga

Entresto

Enbrel

Imbruvica

Stelara

NovoLog

 

 

            



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