At a bicameral press conference this afternoon, Rep. Phillips announced that he is sponsoring the Medicare Negotiation and Competitive Licensing Act aimed at lowering the cost of prescription drugs for all Americans.

“If there's one thing all Americans can agree on in these divided times, it's that prescription drug costs are out of control,” said Phillips. “Drug companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year lobbying Congress to protect their profits, but we were elected to disrupt the status quo -- it’s past time for Congress to act.”

Skyrocketing prescription drug prices have become a life or death issue for too many Americans. Just last January, 23 year old Minnesotan Alec Raeshawn Smith died after rationing his insulin in an attempt to save his family money.

Americans subsidize the entire world's prescription drug prices by paying many times more what people in other countries pay for the exact same drugs. The VA has shown that negotiating drug prices is an effective way to lower the costs for patients. The Medicare Negotiation and Competitive Licensing Act would require Medicare to do the same.  

Minnesotans are innovators in the healthcare industry. Sen. Klobuchar has long championed requiring Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices, and authored the Senate companion bill.

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