Hillary Clinton Announces Plan to Combat High Prescription Drug Prices

by E. M. White On Friday, Hillary Clinton announced a plan to combat the rising cost of prescription drugs, particularly the excessive rise in costs of live saving prescriptions like the EpiPen. Clinton's plan would create a federal team to monitor drug prices and track increases. Her plan also provides several actions the government could take when drug prices have been raised excessively such as fines and increased access to treatment programs. An outline of Clinton's proposal is below, and the full plan can be read on The Briefing. Making alternatives available and increasing competition Emergency importation of safe treatments Penalties for unjustified price increases to hold drug companies accountable and fund expanded access Dedicated oversight to protect consumers Strong new enforcement measures to respond when there are unjustified, outlier price increases that threaten public health Directly intervening to make treatments available, and supporting generic and alternative manufacturers that enter the market and increase competition to bring down prices Broadening access to safe, high-quality generic and alternative competitors through emergency importation Holding drug makers accountable for unjustified price increases with new penalties - and using the funds to expand access and competition Cap monthly and annual out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs to save patients with chronic or serious health conditions hundreds or thousands of dollars Clear out the FDA generic backlog Prohibit “pay for delay” arrangements that keep generic competition off the market Ensure American consumers are getting value for their drugs Stop direct-to-consumer drug company advertising subsidies, and reinvest funds in research Require drug companies that benefit from taxpayers’ support to invest in research, not marketing or profits Allow Medicare to negotiate drug and biologic prices and demand higher rebates for prescription drugs in Medicare News Source: The Briefing, The New York Times