During negotiations over last week’s budget deal, there was an effort to add The CREATES Act to the bill as a “pay-for.” CREATES aims to bring generics drugs to market and could reduce Medicare and Medicaid spending by as much as $3.8 billion over ten years.
Since Medicare and Medicaid are two of the biggest contributors to the federal deficits, it seems to make sense to add this provision to the bill. So why wasn’t it added? Well it might be because drug company CEOS flew into Washington to personally lobby Senate Leader Mitch McConnell against the bill. This is not confirmed but knowing the time and resources the big pharmaceutical companies put into lobbying Congress I can believe this is what transpired.
Campaign for Liberty members should call their Senators and urge them to support the CREATES Act and ask Senator McConnell to schedule a vote on it. It is particularly important that members in Tennessee call Lamar Alexander at 202-224-4944 since he chairs the HELP Committee which has jurisdiction over this legislation.
Hopefully it will pass the Senate and Speaker Paul Ryan will move it through the House so President Trump can sign it as part of his efforts to lower drug prices.
Read more about the CREATES Act here.
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