MANCHESTER, NH – Congressman Chris Pappas on Friday convened a group of New Hampshire health advocates to talk about the rising cost of prescription drugs. The panel focused on the underlying conditions that created the skyrocketing drug costs, the impact on New Hampshire patients and seniors, and what specifically Congress can do to ensure patients can access the prescription drugs they need at a price that they can afford.
The roundtable was held at the William B. Cashin Senior Activity Center in Manchester.
Congressman Pappas was joined by AARP State Director Todd Fahey, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Chief Pharmacy Officer Staci Hermann, and Dr. Chris Peterson of Londonderry Pediatrics.
“I hear constituents express deep concerns and serious anxiety about their inability to afford the prescription drugs they need to stay well,” Pappas said. “In America, nobody should ever have to wonder whether life-saving medication is within financial reach. It’s time to rein in the big drug companies who are earning record profits at the expense of Granite Staters. I’m committed to finding solutions that will ease the significant burden and anxiety so many Americans unnecessarily face every day.”
Congressman Pappas has supported a number of legislative measures designed to address this issue, including a bill that would speed generics to market and the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2019, which requires the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies.
Earlier in May, the House of Representatives passed the Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act, which included an amendment Congressman Pappas successfully attached to the bill that would require the Department of Health and Human Services to set enrollment targets to ensure they are tracking progress and deploying resources wisely. He spoke on the floor to introduce the amendment, which you can watch here.
