Commentary: Republicans Must Not Surrender to Bernie Sanders on Healthcare

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the GOP needs an effective healthcare agenda. There are many policies and programs they could be championing to help families deal with rising costs — especially now with control in the House and a slim Democratic majority in the Senate — but unfortunately, they’ve failed to capitalize on this issue so far.

Republicans are missing an important opening; last year 90 percent of voters said a candidate’s plan for reducing the cost of healthcare would be important to them and 39 percent went so far as to say they would likely cross party lines to vote for a candidate who makes reducing healthcare costs their top priority!

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Commentary: For High Healthcare Costs, S.127 Is Bad Medicine

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is reportedly considering bringing a Big Pharma-backed bill to the Senate floor for a vote that would result in higher healthcare costs for everyday Americans. The so-called Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Act (S.127) was written and pushed by special interests. If it passes, it will hurt all of us both in our wallets and in terms of the quality of our healthcare.

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Commentary: Federal Trade Commission May Finally Bring Down the Hammer on Pharmacy Benefit Managers

Amidst rising prescription drug prices, consumers may finally be getting some much-needed relief if the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) follows through with a recent pledge to investigate Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) for anticompetitive practices. 

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Michigan Senate Passes Bill to Lower Prescription Drug Prices

The Michigan Senate approved a bipartisan plan to reduce prescription drug prices in the state.

House Bill 4348 aims to save patients money by regulating pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) who serve as facilitators between health plans, drug manufacturers and pharmacists.

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Commentary: Middlemen Who Control the Prescription Drug Market Are Responsible for Rising Insulin and Drug Prices

Why is insulin, invented more than 100 years ago, still unaffordable for many of America’s 10 million diabetics who rely on it?

Politicians reflexively blame pharmaceutical manufacturers. Sen. Bernie Sanders asked rhetorically in November, “What possible reason, other than greed, could there be for the pharmaceutical industry to raise the price of insulin by more than 1,400%?”

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel recently announced plans to investigate rising insulin prices as a pretext for increased government regulation of the market. “While drug companies profit off of people’s health, they also benefit from a current market in which they control the pricing,” she proclaimed. “Enough is enough.”

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