Sen. Heinrich: Shame on You for Choosing Drug Corporation Profits Over Your Constituents
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the office of Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) reported that the Senate Parliamentarian decided to allow the ORPHAN Cures Act to be included in Republicans’ Big Ugly Betrayal, reversing its previous decision to exclude it due to violation of Byrd budget reconciliation rules.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the proposal, which would allow drug corporations to charge higher prices to Medicare by excluding more drugs from facing Medicare drug price negotiation, will reduce savings for the federal government by nearly $5 billion. If these changes had been in effect already, Medicare would have been barred from negotiating lower prices for important treatments like cancer drugs Imbruvica, Calquence, and Pomalyst. Sen. Heinrich is the only Senate cosponsor of the standalone bill of the proposal, alongside its lead sponsor, Sen. Barrasso (R-WY).
Public Citizen Access to Medicines Advocate, Steve Knievel, issued the following statement:
“Sen. Heinrich should be ashamed of prioritizing drug corporation profits over lower medicine prices for seniors and people with disabilities.
“Patients and consumers breathed a sigh of relief when the Senate Parliamentarian stripped the proposal from Republicans’ Big Ugly Betrayal, so it comes as a gut punch to hear that Sen. Heinrich welcomed the reversal and continued to champion a proposal that will transfer billions from taxpayers to Big Pharma.
“People across the country are demanding lower drug prices and for Medicare drug price negotiations to be expanded, not restricted. Sen. Heinrich should apologize to his constituents and start listening to them instead of drug corporation lobbyists.”