WASHINGTON, D.C. – Matt Eyles, president and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), issued this statement following the rollout of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s drug pricing plan:
Drug prices are out of control, and millions of hardworking American families feel the consequences every day. No one should have to choose between paying their bills and getting their life-saving medications.
We commend the House leadership for a bold reform proposal recognizing the problem is the price of drugs – set and controlled exclusively by manufacturers – and that drug makers must be held accountable to lower prices for consumers and patients. For too long, Big Pharma has taken advantage of government-granted monopolies to set outrageous launch prices, eliminate competition and increase prices on the same products year after year.
This legislation advances several key proposals that have bipartisan support, such as out of pocket limits for seniors and ensuring manufacturers have meaningful accountability for their prices and price increases. We encourage legislators to advance efforts that will reduce drug prices across the entire health care system – not just shifting costs to consumers, employers and taxpayers –while retaining the ability of health insurance providers to use market-based tools and private-sector negotiations to reduce the net price of drugs. It is critical that we address the broken prescription drug market and make progress on market-based approaches to bring down the price of drugs, especially those with no or only limited competition. As the detailed legislation is released and debated, we look forward to providing additional input to advance bipartisan efforts to ensure drug makers are accountable for reducing their prices.
We support the shared goal of Congress and the Administration to lower health care costs and lower drug prices for every American. We remain committed to working together to ensuring every American can get the affordable, comprehensive coverage and care they deserve.