ICYMI: Big Pharma Jacked Up Prices, New York House Republicans Did Nothing
As Working New Yorkers Struggle With Soaring Drug Prices, the Biden Administration is Taking Real Steps to Rein In Corporate Greed
NEW YORK — Last week, the Biden administration announced that dozens of pharmaceutical companies would be forced to pay rebates to Medicare beginning in January, lowering out-of-pocket costs for seniors who take one of the nearly 50 drugs whose prices increased faster than inflation this year. These rebates were put in place as part of last year’s Inflation Reduction Act and are part of the Biden Administration’s larger effort to lower drug prices and combat rampant price-gouging by pharmaceutical companies.
“With a daughter who relies on insulin, the cost of healthcare is never far from my mind—especially as prices seem to always be going up,” said Olivia, a resident of Uniondale, NY. “I’m happy to hear that the Biden Administration is taking this issue seriously and working to stop this kind of price gouging. Too many Long Island families are struggling to afford life-saving medications while drug companies are raking in billions. Representative Anthony D’Esposito needs to get off the sidelines and start fighting for his constituents.”
Meanwhile, New York House Republicans have failed to take any action to reduce healthcare and prescription drug costs for their constituents. Instead, they’ve voted to raise healthcare costs and repeatedly tried to slash funding for the agency that administers Medicare and Medicaid, which would only increase wait times and further restrict access to benefits for millions of New Yorkers.
“For many years, my husband and I paid into Social Security and Medicare, and those benefits now enable us to afford the healthcare and medications that we need,” said Jan, a resident of Endicott, NY. “We’ve watched with concern as giant corporations that already rake in billions in profit have continued to raise prices, so we were very pleased to see President Biden working to lower our costs. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen the same concern from Rep. Molinaro, who goes to Washington and votes to limit our access to the critical benefits that we rely on. Marc Molinaro needs to work as hard for the people in our district as he does for big business.”
To learn more about the campaign, please reach out to press@empirestatevoices.org
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About Empire State Voices
Empire State Voices (ESV) is a multi-year campaign dedicated to amplifying the voices of everyday working New Yorkers. ESV is fighting for economic policies that make life more affordable for constituents and holding members of Congress across the state accountable when they fail to do the same.
