Letter to the Editor - Promises made should be promises kept when it comes to drug prices

Dear Editor:

Talk is cheap, but prescription medicines are not. Millions of people can’t afford to keep paying what drug corporations charge for basic medicines like insulin or asthma inhalers, much less specialty cancer drugs or Alzheimer’s pills.

Pharmaceutical companies are price gouging people who depend on life-saving medications simply because they can. Patients in the United States are paying twice what people in other nations pay for the same drugs.

For over a decade, politicians have promised to lower drug prices and make medicines more affordable. Candidates from both parties have run on making Medicare negotiate for lower prices. So far, none have delivered, but that’s about to change.

Democrats in Congress have enough votes to pass the reconciliation package, including Medicare negotiations and other reforms limiting out-of-pocket costs for seniors in Part D. The bill is headed for a vote in the next two weeks. This time, lawmakers must make good on their promises if they want to keep their jobs.

Please get in touch with our congressional delegation and encourage them to support Medicare negotiations.

Monica Garrahan

Havre