PA-08 Round Up: Congressman Cartwright Is Capping The Cost Of Prescription Drugs, Against His Opponent’s Wishes

Congressman Cartwright: "One of the reasons I first ran for Congress was to help people in northeastern Pennsylvania get access to affordable, high-quality health care"

Following the second anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, Rep. Matt Cartwright connected with local residents in Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional district to talk about the positive impacts of the cost-saving legislation.

"For too long, big corporations and big pharma, in particular, have been reaching deeper and deeper into people's pockets," said Cartwright, who co-sponsored the legislation which led Medicare to negotiate down the cost of 10 prescription drugs and save Pennsylvanians millions of dollars.

While Rep. Cartwright has led the charge to lower costs for seniors, his opponent Rob Bresnahan responded by trashing the IRA.

DCCC Spokesperson Aidan Johnson:
"Rob Bresnahan answers to Big Pharma and big corporations. His dismay over seniors getting affordable medication shows us he is nothing more than a sellout running to represent the billionaires funding his campaign, not Northeastern Pennsylvanians."

Scranton Times-Tribune: Lower prescription drug prices benefit seniors
Robert Tomkavage | August 19, 2024

• As employees of Albert's Pharmacy worked diligently to fill prescription bottles Monday morning, U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright visited the local business to tout the positive impact of the Inflation Reduction Act on drug prices.

• "One of the reasons I first ran for Congress was to help people in northeastern Pennsylvania get access to affordable, high-quality health care," said Cartwright, D-8, Moosic. "For too long, big corporations and big pharma, in particular, have been reaching deeper and deeper into people's pockets … people who are sick and people who have chronic conditions."

• The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in Aug. 2022, gave Medicare the power to negotiate drug prices.

• "We're making real progress helping people get the medicine they need at prices they can afford," Cartwright said. "We can't go back to diabetics being forced to ration insulin and we can't go back to parents choosing between purchasing their heart medication or putting food on the table."

• Michael Berman, Pennsylvania Director for Protect Our Care - a national organization that advocates for the expansion of health care coverage, praised Cartwright's commitment to helping push companies to cap prescription prices.

• "Seniors are saving more on drugs than ever before thanks to Medicare drug price negotiations," Berman said. "For generations, the one rule in Washington, D.C., was never fight the pharmaceutical industry because you're going to lose. Congressman Matt Cartwright never learned that lesson, thankfully. He took on that fight and won."

• Pharmacist Joe Albert, who opened the pharmacy on South Main Street in Pittston 13 years ago and another in Carbondale early last year, stressed the capping of insulin costs at $35 per month for Medicare beneficiaries in Jan. 2023 was a good first step.

• "The new drugs that are going to be capped at lower prices soon are going to make a huge difference in our community," Albert said.

WOLF: Inflation Reduction Act marks two years, claims savings on drug prices

Jake Sarwar | August 19, 2024

• Pharmacist Joe Albert owns Albert's Pharmacy off Main Street in Pittston. He says money spent on medications never comes back to local communities.

• "They're going to big Pharma, who sold these same drugs for a fraction of the cost to other countries," Albert explained.

• The law reduces the cost of insulin for seniors to $35 and will reduce the cost for Medicare patients of ten high-priced drugs that help with blood clots, Crohn's disease, and diabetes.

• Congressman Matt Cartwright supported the bill and said it was time for insulin prices to decrease.

• "Even though it was on the market for over 100 years, insulin was getting more expensive, not less, and prices jumped by more than 1,000 percent," Congressman Cartwright says.

• Cartwright says the bill gives Medicare more power and flexibility.

• "The Inflation Reduction Act finally gives Medicare the power to negotiate prices for some of the most widely used and necessary drugs that our seniors rely upon," Cartwright explained.

The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader: Cartwright, Protect Our Care, local pharmacist discuss lower drug prices for seniors and combating price gouging
Bill O'Boyle | August 19, 2024

• U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright and Pittston pharmacist Joe Albert on Monday joined Protect Our Care Pennsylvania to mark the second anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, which has delivered lower healthcare and prescription drug costs for northeastern Pennsylvanians.

• "It's wrong, it needs to be fixed, and we are fixing it," Cartwright said. "We can't go back to diabetics being forced to ration insulin and put their lives at risk. We can't go back to parents choosing between purchasing their heart medication and putting food on the table. We say enough is enough."

• Local pharmacist Joe Albert shared how pharmaceutical prices personally impacted his patients. Albert, who has run a local pharmacy in Pittston since 2011, said "how much it hurts people in our community" when drug prices are too high.

• "Many seniors were being asked to pay hundreds of dollars up front for their monthly dose of insulin," Albert said. "With drug companies and pharmaceutical benefit managers demanding huge fees, neighborhood pharmacies sometimes sell at a loss to their own patients. Greed throughout the supply chain is harmful to patients' health and putting local, independent pharmacies out of business."

• Michael Berman, Director of Protect Our Care Pennsylvania, said for generations, the one rule in Washington was "don't fight the pharmaceutical industry, because you're going to lose."

• Berman said, "Congressman Matt Cartwright never learned that lesson."

• Each year, 80,197 Pennsylvanians will save $543 annually from the insulin price cap, 449,726 Pennsylvania seniors will save $400 through the free vaccination program, and over 450,000 Pennsylvanians will save on necessary prescriptions through Medicare negotiations.

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