Nineteen Senate Democrats are asking President-elect Trump to take specific steps aimed at lowering the cost of prescription drugs.
They sent Trump a letter asking him to allow the Department of Health and Human Services to negotiate lower drug prices for Medicare recipients, require more price transparency from drug companies, halt price gouging and promote policies prompting better competition and innovation, which would lead to more affordable drugs.
“You now have the authority to push for a future that prioritizes patients,” wrote the Democrats, led by Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Al Franken of Minnesota. “We are ready to advance measures to achieve this goal and we urge you to partner with Republicans and Democrats alike to take meaningful steps to address the high cost of prescription drugs through bold administrative and legislative actions.”
The Democrats noted that during his campaign, Trump promised to advance reforms to bring down the price of prescription drugs, which polls show are increasingly concerning to Americans.
Several Republicans, most notably Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, also have asked Trump to focus on bringing down drug prices. Decisions by drugmakers, including Mylan and Turing, to dramatically raise the price of some widely used drugs and devices have highlighted the problem of high drug prices over the past few years.
