Senators Amy Klobuchar (DFL. - Minnesota) and Chuck Grassley (R. - Iowa) have new confidence that a pair of bills they are pushing through Congress can pass and could, they say, help save Americans millions each month on prescription drug costs.
The Preserving Access to Affordable Generics and Biosimilars Act and the Stop Significant and Time-wasting Abuse Limiting Legitimate Innovation of New Generics Act or “Stop STALLING Act” would limit larger pharmaceutical companies from trying to keep generic forms of certain prescription drugs from going to market. In some cases, Klobuchar and Grassley say, the bigger companies pay the generic drug makers to keep the cheaper products off store shelves or even try to stop the approval process.
Klobuchar believes the legislation could save Americans $730 million a year in prescription drug costs.
“While we have made headway on Medicare negotiation, that is just the beginning,” said Sen. Klobuchar. “There are so many other things that need to be done.”
Joining the senators and other advocates on a virtual press conference Thursday morning was Jessica Intermill, a Minnesota woman in her 40s who found out she had rheumatoid arthritis when she was pregnant more than a decade ago.
“My body turns on itself, it attacks my joints, and eats holes into my bones,” said Intermill. “It’s incredibly painful. I didn’t even trust myself to hold my infant.”
She said she found relief in daily injections, but, even with insurance coverage, the cost of the prescription is $4400 a month.