{"id":109482,"date":"2019-10-15T10:30:37","date_gmt":"2019-10-15T14:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=109482"},"modified":"2019-10-15T10:30:37","modified_gmt":"2019-10-15T14:30:37","slug":"brindisi-introduces-legislation-to-lower-medical-costs-increase-access-to-low-cost-drugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=109482","title":{"rendered":"Brindisi introduces legislation to lower medical costs, increase access to low-cost drugs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Rep. Anthony Brindisi<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Brindisi: This will eliminate out-of-pocket drug costs for\nmillions of seniors<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congressman Anthony Brindisi continued his efforts to reduce\ndrug costs by joining Reps. Scott Peters (CA-52) and Pete King (NY-02) to\nintroduce the bipartisan Acting to Cancel Copays and Ensure Substantial Savings\nfor Biosimilars Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislation, supported by Democrats and Republicans,\nwould eliminate a patient\u2019s copay for a biosimilar if they normally would pay\nfull cost of a biologic drug under Medicare Part B; the bill will drive down\nmedical costs by increasing access to lower-cost biosimilar drugs and give\nAmericans more treatment options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like generic drugs, biosimilars offer a lower-cost\nopportunity to treat expensive diseases and illnesses. They are some of the\nmost innovative physician-administered drugs and are successfully treating\ncomplex diseases like cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn\u2019s disease and\nulcerative colitis. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration deemed approved\nbiosimilars to be as safe and effective as their biologic counterparts, but many\nare still not available to Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery day I hear from Upstate New Yorkers who cannot afford\nthe medication they need, and it is way past time for Democrats and Republicans\nto take action,\u201d Brindisi said. \u201cOur bill will eliminate out of pocket costs\nfor millions of seniors. I am proud to work with Rep. Peters and Rep. King on\nthis legislation to help increase competition and bring drug costs down for\nseniors and working families.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSan Diego is home to a world-class life science sector that\nis uncovering new ways to improve and save lives,\u201d Peters said. \u201cThe government\ncan and should drive down drug costs and one way we can do that is by\nincreasing competition. If we eliminate copays on biosimilars, it will increase\ntheir widespread use and provide a market incentive to drive down overall drug\ncosts. I am committed to lowering health care costs and expanding treatment\noptions for all Americans, and the bipartisan ACCESS Act does just that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis legislation represents an important step toward containing\ndrug prices for some of the most expensive therapies,\u201d King said.  \u201cBy increasing patient access and encouraging\ndevelopment of more biosimilars this legislation would save Medicare\nbeneficiaries and taxpayers billions of dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Europe, more than 40 biosimilar products are available.\nThe Congressional Research Service reports that while less than 2 percent of\nAmericans use biologics, they account for 40 percent of total spending on\nprescription drugs. The RAND Corporation estimates biosimilars could save the\nUnited States as much as $54 billion over the next decade. The ACCESS Act\nadvances the goals of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act\n(BPCIA), which Congress passed in 2010, to provide a new regulatory pathway to\nlicense and approve biosimilars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this year, Brindisi held roundtables on lowering\ndrug costs and joined AARP for a prescription drug forum. Additionally,\nBrindisi joined Democrats and Republicans to outline principles for legislation\nto increase transparency and competition in the drug marketplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brindisi worked with Republican Congressman John Joyce\n(PA-13) to introduce the Ensuring Timely Access to Generics Act (H.R. 2455), a\nbipartisan bill to crack down on tactics used by pharmaceutical companies to\ndelay generic drugs from coming to market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brindisi: This will eliminate out-of-pocket drug costs for millions of seniors Congressman Anthony Brindisi continued his efforts to reduce drug costs by joining Reps. Scott Peters (CA-52) and Pete King (NY-02) to introduce the bipartisan Acting to Cancel Copays and Ensure Substantial Savings for Biosimilars Act. The legislation, supported by Democrats and Republicans, would eliminate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23810,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wellbeing","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=109482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/102245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=109482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=109482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=109482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}