Hickenlooper, Colleagues Urge Federal Court to Uphold Medicare’s Ability to Negotiate Rx Drug Prices

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper, Amy Klobuchar, Peter Welch, and 12 of their Senate colleagues filed an amicus brief, urging the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the constitutionality of Congress authorizing Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices for consumers. Big pharmaceutical companies have sued in federal court to stop Medicare from lowering prices in two court cases: AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals v. Becerra; Bristol Myers Squibb Co. v. Becerra and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Becerra.

"Congress gave the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) similar authority to address the extraordinary and unsustainable increase in the prices that Medicare pays for pharmaceutical products that lack generic competition and that account for a disproportionate share of Medicare's expenses," wrote the senators. "The Program takes nothing from the pharmaceutical industry-not its drugs and not its patents… Like every other market participant, manufacturers may sell their products at prices buyers think is fair (or not fair) and buyers may make market choices in turn."

Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, which Hickenlooper helped negotiate and pass, Medicare now has the authority to negotiate drug prices for consumers.

Over 100,000 Medicare enrollees in Colorado rely on the drugs that Medicare now negotiates prices on and will directly benefit as a result. The Medicare program and seniors are predicted to save $7.5 billion in the first year thanks to Medicare's negotiations. These negotiated prices range from 38-79% in reductions off of list prices.

Hickenlooper previously filed amicus briefings in 2023 in the Merck & Co. and the Boehringer Ingelheim cases, urging the Court to uphold the constitutionality of the Inflation Reduction Act.

Full text of the amicus brief available HERE.

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