NATIONWIDE — Congress is working on a solution to lower the cost of prescription drugs, an issue that affects millions.
- GOP, Dems differ on how to solve rising drug costs
- Mom to senators: Insulin costs $10 in Hungary, $487 in US
- Lawmakers want investigation into prices of some drugs
Lawmakers are looking to rein in rising prescription drug costs. Americans spend more per capita on prescription drugs than any other high-income country in the world, and it has nothing to do with the quality of the medicine provided.
Both Democrats and Republicans are frustrated over industry practices. But they differ on how to solve the problem. Democrats favor allowing Medicare to be more involved in negotiating prices. Meanwhile, Republicans would prefer to create lower costs through free-market competition.
One woman testified before the Senate finance committee about a revelation she made about drug prices while traveling abroad.
"We went to the pharmacy for insulin. It cost $10. The same vial of insulin that cost us $487 out of pocket cost $10 in Hungary. I wanted to stockpile it. I wanted to buy every vial, but I couldn't," said Kathy Sego, a mother of a child with insulin-dependent diabetes.
Lawmakers want to tackle the issue by demanding investigations into the prices of some drugs, such as insulin, which is now three times higher than it was 15 years ago.
In Florida, a prescription drug cost transparency bill became law last year, which addressed what some thought were unfavorable practices in the drug industry. For example, before the law took effect, some pharmacies were forced to sign gag clauses that restricted pharmacists from informing customers of the costs of prescriptions drugs.
Lawmakers asked many drug executives to testify, but most of the larger companies declined.