WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) today issued the following statement after Speaker Pelosi’s partisan drug pricing proposal, H.R. 3, passed the House on a near party-line vote of 230-192.
“As House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal and Ranking Member Kevin Brady said yesterday, “Health care policy only works when both parties work together.” By that standard, Speaker Pelosi’s partisan proposal misses the mark.
“If we truly want to lower the cost of prescription drugs, we need to work together to bring transparency into our complex prescription drug pricing system. Bills I’ve introduced, such as the Prescription Drug Rebate Reform Act and the Transparency in All Health Care Pricing Act, will hold key players in the industry – such as Pharmacy Benefit Managers, drug insurers, and insurance companies — accountable, ensure consumers have the information they need to pay fair costs, and pull back the curtain on the industry’s complex pricing methods.
“If Speaker Pelosi were serious about addressing the rising costs of prescription drugs, she would have included these critical bipartisan proposals. Instead she chose to play politics and waste an opportunity to actually lower costs for the American people.”
Background:
In Congress, Rep. Gallagher has been a strong advocate for finding bipartisan ways to increase transparency in the health care industry. Earlier this year he introduced H.R. 1409, the bipartisan Transparency in all Healthcare Pricing Act, and H.R. 3805, the Prescription Drug Rebate Reform Act of 2019, both of which would make drug prices more fair and transparent.
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