House bill lowering prescription drug costs will likely face opposition in Senate

Lou Brown is a Dallas resident and one of the millions of Americans over 65 enrolled in Medicare who cannot afford high-priced prescriptions.

DALLAS - In a nearly straight party-line vote, the House late last week passed legislation that would lower prescription drug costs for senior citizens on Medicare and in some cases others.

President Donald Trump has been encouraging lawmakers to come together on lowering prescription drug costs, but he has also said he did not like the Democrats’ proposal. The Senate has no interest in it, which means it likely won't become law.

It leaves many to grapple with hard choices like how to pay for drugs that can run in the hundreds to thousands of dollars each month.

Lou Brown is a Dallas resident and one of the millions of Americans over 65 enrolled in Medicare who cannot afford high-priced prescriptions.

(Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

“When I went to the drug store to have it filled, they told me the generic brand would be $640. So I just said, ‘No, I’m gonna have to do without it,’” Brown said. “I called my doctor back and he said, ‘Well, you can order it from Canada.’”

The same drug that’s over $1,000 for the name brand was more than $600 for the generic. Brown got in Canada instead for $40. But the process took weeks. Brown had to pay for the prescription first and then wait for its arrival.

“And it takes about three weeks to get the medicine back,” she said.

Last week, Democrats passed the Elijah Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, which for the first time gives authority to the health and human services secretary to:

negotiate prices on 50 to 250 brand name drugs including insulin
undo or rebate price hikes that have exceeded inflation since 2016
cap seniors’ out-of-pocket prescription costs at $2,000 per year.

But like everything else, Congress is divided. While House Democrats voted for the proposal, Republicans had their own measure.

President Trump has already said he did not like the Democrats’ legislation.

Like millions more, Brown hopes lawmakers find a way to write a prescription to bring relief to the high cost of much-needed drugs.

“I would like to see that happen because it’s so many people who can’t afford the medicine,” Brown said.

Representatives Marc Veasey, Lloyd Doggett and others will hold a press conference call on Tuesday urging Senate Republicans to vote for the Lower Drug Costs Now Act.

However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said last week: "Socialist price controls will do a lot of left-wing damage to the healthcare system. And of course we’re not going to be calling up a bill like that.”