newYou can now listen to Fox News articles.
It’s no secret that millions of Americans feel that Congress is more concerned with protecting big business than ordinary people.
Nowhere is that more evident than when we talk about this country’s broken health care system and the exorbitant prices of prescription drugs.
The truth is, if you ask most Americans, Democrats, Republicans, independents, progressives, and conservatives, they will agree: We have been massively fooled by the pharmaceutical industry.
The price of almost all prescription drugs is much higher in the United States than in other countries. (Photo illustration/Reuters/Srdjan Jivlović)
As a nation, we spend nearly twice as much per capita on health care than any other nation, spending more than $13,000 for every man, woman, and child. Medical bills are often the number one cause of bankruptcy in the United States because medical bills are so expensive, even for people who have insurance.
Biden administration says Medicare owes drug price rebates that exceed inflation
And one of the main reasons America’s health care costs are so high is because we pay some of the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.
Why does Merck charge U.S. diabetics $6,900 for Januvia when the exact same product can be purchased for $900 in Canada and just $200 in France?
Why would Johnson & Johnson charge an arthritic American $79,000 when Stelara can be purchased for just $16,000 in the UK? And the same product costs just $900 in Canada and $650 in France? Why does Bristol-Myers Squibb charge our patients $7,100 for Eliquis when it can be purchased for free?
It goes on and on. The price of almost all prescription drugs is much higher in the United States than in other countries.
Amazon Pharmacy adds automatic coupons to lower insulin prices
The good news is that we are beginning to accept the greed of the pharmaceutical industry. Medicare, first evernegotiates prices for some drugs, including Januvia, Stelara, and Eliquis.
The bad news is that the pharmaceutical industry is doing everything it can to block these negotiations and stop Congress from making prescription drugs affordable for all Americans, not just those on Medicare.
Giant Pharmaceutical and Health Insurance Lobby They have spent millions over the past few decades putting profits ahead of the health of the American people.
Over the past 25 years, drug companies have spent $8.5 billion on lobbying. There are currently about 1,800 highly paid lobbyists in Washington, D.C., including former Republican and Democratic leaders. Incredibly, this amounts to more than three lobbyists per member of Congress.
Congress investigates how drug intermediaries influence drug prices
During the same period, they provided more than $700 million in campaign contributions. And they are equal opportunity contributors. They have contributed significantly to both Republican and Democratic candidates.
As a result of Congressional inaction, these large companies have raised the prices of prescription drugs to the point that one in four Americans can no longer afford the drugs their doctors prescribe.
Meanwhile, millions of Americans are suffering and some are dying because they can’t afford the prescription drugs they need, while the nation’s 10 top drug companies will reap more than $110 billion in profits in 2022. and pay exorbitantly high compensation to the CEO.
One of my top priorities as Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP) is to significantly lower prescription drug prices in America. One way to do that is to hold the CEOs of some of our nation’s largest pharmaceutical companies accountable for their actions.
That’s why I invited Merck CEO Robert Davis. Joaquin Duato, CEO of Johnson & Johnson. Bristol-Myers Squibb CEO Chris Boerner attended the hearing to discuss what the company is doing to lower drug prices in the United States.
Why did we ask these CEOs to come before us? Because the American people have a right to answer some very simple questions.
For example, why is the median price of new prescription drugs in the United States, including many new cancer drugs, exceeding $220,000? How is it that millions of Americans cannot afford the prescription drugs they need, despite spending so much?
CVS Pharmacy changes the way prescription drugs are priced
Why is there a huge lack of transparency in how your company sets drug prices?
These very simple questions are on the minds of millions of Americans. These are the questions that the CEO of a major pharmaceutical company is responsible for answering.
And let’s be clear: these are not distressed companies forced to charge high fees to survive. Trust me, they won’t go bankrupt. In 2022, Johnson & Johnson made nearly $18 billion in profits, paid its CEO more than $27 million in compensation, and spent more than $17 billion on stock buybacks and dividends.
That same year, Merck made $14.5 billion in profits, paid out more than $7 billion in dividends to its wealthy shareholders, and paid its CEO more than $52 million in compensation.
Click here to get the Opinion Newsletter
And while Bristol-Myers Squibb made $6.3 billion in profits last year, it recently spent more than $12 billion on stock buybacks and dividends and paid its CEO more than $41 million.
Why is there a huge lack of transparency in how your company sets drug prices? (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
I am proud of what the Committee has already achieved.
Last year, Moderna’s CEO promised during a HELP committee hearing that the company would launch a patient assistance program so that no one in the U.S. would have to pay for the vaccine out of pocket. At another HELP committee hearing last May, Eli Lilly’s CEO pledged that his company would not raise the prices of its existing insulin products.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The committee’s efforts are bearing fruit, but more needs to be done.
I will be at a February 8 hearing with the CEOs of Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., and Bristol-Myers Squibb to discuss ways to significantly lower prescription drug prices in the United States. I’m looking forward to that.
Click here to read more from Sen.Bernie Sanders
