Control the Cost of Prescription Drugs

Brief
Prescription drugs in this country cost too much. Individual drugs change prices at the whims of those running pharmaceutical companies. Patent trolls can drive the prices of certain medications up while providing no value themselves to the US healthcare system. And while drug companies complain constantly about the high cost of research, they seem to overlook that almost all FDA-approved drugs over the past several years relied on research funded by the NIH. They also overlook the record-high profits they’ve been experiencing in recent years.

It’s making it impossible for Americans who need drugs to afford their treatment—many are choosing between their medicine and food or shelter.

We need to put pressure on these companies to get their prices under control, and more in line with the rest of the world."Millions of Americans are stressed out and going broke trying to afford prescription drugs, which can sometimes become drastically more expensive without warning. I’ve spoken to many Americans who say they have to choose between their drugs and food. Our drug pricing system advantages the companies to the extreme—it’s time for the public to be protected from price gouging for vital drugs they rely on for their continued health. "

Problems to be Solved

 * Americans fund the research for most pharmaceuticals, and yet pharmaceutical companies often gouge their consumers while seeing record profits.

Goals

 * Bring down the cost of prescription medications

Guiding Principles

 * Health
 * Equity

As President, I will…

 * Work with Congress to pass a law allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices. It’s ridiculous that this doesn’t happen already—it would save the public an enormous amount of money each year.
 * Use international reference pricing to set a baseline (in other words, see the average cost for a medication in other countries), and allow for forced licensing of medications if companies can’t come to a reasonable agreement with the federal government on cost in line with international prices.
 * If a company is charging too much, someone willing to charge a reasonable amount will be granted a license to make the medication.
 * Create public manufacturing facilities to produce generic drugs to keep the costs of them at a minimum.
 * If all the above fail, allow for the importation of prescription medications from other countries.