Washington, D.C. – On Tuesday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new list of drugs subject to Medicare price negotiation, a list that is weaker now that Trump’s Big, Ugly Bill has taken effect. It’s no accident that Keytruda and Opdivo, two of the highest profit-generating and costly cancer drugs, were left off the list after they were set to be included. Trump spent the last year entertaining drug company CEOs at Mar-a-Lago, soliciting millions in donations, and handsomely rewarding Big Pharma in return. Trump and his GOP allies quietly undermined Medicare’s power to negotiate lower prices and ripped real relief from thousands of seniors.
In response, Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement:
“This announcement underscores another betrayal of honest, everyday Americans by Trump and Republicans in Congress in favor of lining the pockets of billionaires and big corporations. Republicans purposely carved out Merck and Bristol Myers Squibb’s top-selling drugs from negotiation to ensure drug companies’ exorbitant profits remain untouched while seniors struggle just to get by in Trump’s unaffordable America. Trump and Republicans must answer to the seniors battling cancer in this country who won’t be able to afford lifesaving treatments because bootlicking Big Pharma executives walked into the Oval Office with fat checks. While Democrats empowered Medicare to secure fair drug prices for our seniors, Trump and Republicans have done nothing but undermine it to cater to Big Pharma’s wildest dreams. Americans who saved all their lives to retire in dignity do not deserve to be lied to and defrauded by the Trump Administration.”
Background:
- Big Pharma’s pay-to-play multimillion-dollar investments at Mar-A-Lago paid off today.
- Thanks to the Republicans in Congress and President Trump, Big Pharma landed their biggest win in years, which allowed them to bypass Medicare drug price negotiations and raise prices on drugs that millions of vulnerable Americans rely on.
- Read more about the lifesaving drugs that were excluded from today’s selection because of the Big, Ugly Bill: CBO Says Trump and Republicans Handed Big Pharma An $8.8 Billion Gift While Seniors Get Stuck With the Bill.