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Nevadans of all ages need lower drug prices | Damian Vicente

Damian Vicente
Damian Vicente

This opinion column was submitted by Damian Vicente, a resident of Jackpot.

As a senior, I’m excited about the prospect of Congress finally passing legislation that would lower drug prices by requiring drug corporations to negotiate lower prices with Medicare.

Like many other people my age, I struggle to afford prescriptions which seem to go up in prices year after year with no end in sight. My wife and I both need prescription drugs and it can become very expensive. My wife has medical conditions that make it hard for us to afford our prescriptions, and sometimes it can be hard to keep up with bill payments. Living on a fixed income, I worry constantly that I will not be able to afford the basic medicines I need to stay healthy enough to enjoy the years I have left with my friends and family. Living in a rural area, and being the sole breadwinner for my family, makes it even harder.

But seniors aren’t the only ones who are worried about affordable medicine. Half of all Americans take prescription medicines and about one in four adults can’t afford them, leading many to skip doses, incur debt or forgo other basics like rent and food to get the medicines they need.

Recent polling shows that adults in their 30s, 40s and 50s are having an even harder time affording medicines than seniors. That’s even more true for people with chronic health conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, depression and asthma as well as for people with acute illness like cancer. These illnesses, which all often require medication, can strike anyone at any stage of life. In fact, many like asthma and depression are more prevalent among younger people.

Today, people of all ages are struggling with prescription drug prices for themselves, their children and their aging relatives. One of my nephews recently went to the doctor and had to pay $700 for his prescriptions. How can a regular person afford these prices? There needs to be a change in how pharmaceutical companies charge people absurd amounts of money for prescriptions that can be lifesaving.

That’s why Congress must take a broad and inclusive approach to solving the problem of skyrocketing drug prices instead of doing the bare minimum. Prescription drug affordability, like all health care, is a family issue. Too many times families and friends have to come together in order to help someone they know pay for their prescriptions. Congress needs to take action that lowers drug prices and makes medicines affordable for everyone, no matter where they live, how old they are, or what kind of health conditions they have.

Lawmakers have no good excuse for leaving anyone behind, watering down reform or kowtowing to industry demands for minimal change. The prescription drug industry is the most profitable sector in the nation, outpacing profit margins in some other industries by double digits. A recent study showed that drug corporations could make $1 trillion less in sales and still be the most profitable industry in the nation.

The reason the pharmaceutical industry can make so much profit at our expense is that drug corporations in the United States have unlimited monopoly power to set and raise prices on prescriptions any time they want — and they do.

Congress already knows what to do and has a model for how to do it. The Lower Drug Costs Now Act that passed the U.S. House of Representatives in 2019 would make medicines more affordable for seniors in Medicare and extend lower negotiated prices to private insurance as well so that millions more people could get affordable medicines. The legislation would lower out-of-pocket costs for seniors and save money for businesses and taxpayers while also stopping the drug companies from increasing the price of medicines faster than the rate of inflation.

Congress has a lot on its plate this year with COVID, infrastructure and historic investments that are decades overdue. But there is nothing on the politicians’ to-do list that would save as much money or touch as many people as lowering the price of prescription medicines. If they want to continue to be the majority party in Congress, Democrats need to get their priorities in order, stand up to Pharma lobbyists and deliver on their promises to lower drug prices.

Damian Vicente is a Jackpot resident.

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