December 10, 2019
Dear friend,
This week, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on H.R. 3 [1], the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019. H.R. 3 is a bold step toward reducing the high prices of prescription drugs through Medicare negotiation.
President Donald Trump is opposing the bill [2], breaking his campaign promise to deliver lower drug prices. In order to get H. R. 3 passed, we need overwhelming support from our Representatives. We need your help!
To learn more about H. R. 3, please read the details of the bill, following the Take Action section in this email.
Take Action!
If you support lowering prescription drug prices, please join Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC) in taking action to support H. R. 3 in these ways:
1. If you live in Rep. Rodney Davis’s district, call his office as soon as possible, and deliver a message like this:
“Hello, I’m a constituent of Representative Davis and I am calling to comment on drug pricing. I would like to encourage Representative Davis to support all the people in his district who are struggling with high drug costs by supporting HR 3, The Lower Drug Costs Now Act. This bill would allow the government to negotiate drug prices just like private insurance companies and caps out of pocket drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries.”
You can reach Rep. Davis at his Champaign Office at 217-403-4690. Or you can call Rep. Davis’s Washington, DC office at 202-225-2371
2. If you have a different Representative, you can call them with a similar message. To reach your Representative, please call 1-202-224-3121.
3. Come to a Caroling event at Representative Davis’s Champaign Office tomorrow morning at 10 a.m.! Here are the details on the event:
WHAT: Carolers and community leaders will gather outside of Congressman Rodney Davis’ office to call on the Congressman to support HR3 – a bill that would lower prescription drug prices when it is called for a vote this week.
WHEN: 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, December 11, 2019
WHERE: Outside of Cong. Rodney Davis’ district office. 2004 Fox Dr, Champaign, IL 61820
To learn more about H. R. 3, please see below.
H. R. 3 would lower prescription drug prices through the following mechanisms:
1) Allowing the Secretary of Health and Human Services the authority to directly negotiate with drug companies for up to 250 of the highest-priced drugs—and all insulin—each year. The new, lower prices would be available to consumers with all sources of coverage, both public and private. (In the first year alone, drugs representing more than half of all Medicare Part D spending, covering tens of millions of patients, would be subject to the negotiation process – including insulin.)
2) Creating a maximum price for any negotiated drug with an international price index, to be called the Average International Market (AIM) price.
3) Escalating Penalties to Keep Drug Companies at the Table & Prevent Interruption to Access
4) Reversing Price Hikes That Are Above Inflation Across More Than 8,000 Drugs in Medicare. To reverse these unjustified price hikes, all drugs in Medicare Part B and D would face a new inflation rebate. If a drug company has raised the price of a drug in Part B or D above the rate of inflation since 2016, they can either lower the price or be required to pay the entire price above inflation in a rebate back to the Treasury.
5) Creating a new $2,000 Out-of-Pocket Limit for Drug Costs in Medicare & Historic Improvements to Benefits. H.R. 3 will reinvest in strengthening and improving Medicare for seniors and people with disabilities for generations to come, including by creating a $2,000 out-of-pocket limit for prescription drugs. If the savings are great enough, these improvements could include Medicare coverage for vision, hearing, and dental and improvements to benefits for low-income Medicare beneficiaries.
Thank you for your support!
Sincerely,
Champaign County Health Care Consumers