HEALTH CARE

Health care is personal. The right type of health care system improves outcomes, provides better value, and protects vulnerable persons. Congress tends to approach health care through expensive phone-book-sized pieces of legislation that go nowhere. There is a better way. I’ve introduced several initiatives to tackle manageable, highly specific, significant aspects of health care needs that have a real chance of passage and meaningful impact.

LOWERING PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS

In my work overseeing FDA funding, I have challenged and increased funding to the agency to accelerate generic drug approvals.

Over the past decade, the net cost of brandname drugs rose more than three times faster than the rate of inflation. This means that families with children with chronic illnesses, seniors on Medicare, and those on lifesaving drugs face tremendously high costs, even with insurance. For the uninsured, the patchwork system that exists to help them can be unfair and demoralizing. They deserve better.

According to the FDA, the cost of generic drugs could be 80-95 percent less than brand-name drugs when there is active competition among generic drug manufacturers. New generic drugs translate into real savings for families.

In addition, I support allowing pharmacists to inform patients about less costly drugs.

CHINESE-MADE DRUGS

Are our drugs safe? Through perverse policy incentives that encourage outsourcing, we have become dependent on China and other foreign countries for the production of many of our active pharmaceutical ingredients and final drug products. This is not just an economic problem but also a national security risk, as the global pandemic has shown.

We are giving the FDA the power to refuse drugs at the border when the agency is not granted sufficient access to information about how they are produced in foreign-based facilities. I am working to increase the FDA’s unannounced inspections of China-based drug manufacturing facilities to ensure they meet the highest American production standards.

We need more of our drugs to be “Made in America.”

Speaking with FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn about accelerating generic drug approvals, with a big focus on insulin, as well as helping ALS patients access treatments quicker.

HEALTHY COMMUNITIES: THE CHILD ACT

My goal: to make Nebraska and America healthier. The CHILD Act, or the Community Health Improvement Leadership and Development Act, is a way to empower communities to improve their own health. If a community is innovative and shows healthcare improvements, it gets to keep savings from the government. We are pleased to have cosponsors who are among the most progressive and conservative members in the House.

MAKING INSULIN PRICES FAIRER FOR PEOPLE WITH DIABETES MATT’S ACT

A major cause of anxiety for those suffering from diabetes is the high price of insulin. This year, I introduced a common-sense bill that allows prescription drug manufacturers to sell insulin directly to patients. By cutting out the middleman, I hope to reduce the price of insulin by two-thirds for both the insured and uninsured—transforming the lives of the 30 million Americans who struggle with the outrageous cost of this life-saving medicine.

I named the bill in honor of Matt, who lives in a rural community in the first district of Nebraska. In September 2019, at the age of 13, Matt was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. In October 2019, he contacted me, frustrated that the price of his insulin had jumped almost 1000% to just under $600. Matt wanted us to do something for him and everybody else who relies on insulin to manage the disease. We introduced the bipartisan Matt’s Act. It requires manufacturers to sell insulin to pharmacies directly, at net price. This is a fair deal for drug makers, insurance companies, pharmacies and, most of all, patients.

ACT FOR ALS

ALS takes about two to five years to destroy a body and exhaust a family. It is 100 percent fatal. Its victims lose the ability to write, walk, talk, eat, move, and breathe. Drug trials can drag on for a decade or longer, yet most ALS victims do not live that long. This overly deliberate regulatory process does not match the urgency of the disease. At the time of this writing, over 250 members of Congress have agreed with me.

This bill allows patients to access promising treatment development, giving them hope for relief from this merciless disease. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will guide a new public private partnership for better research and regulation. ACT for ALS has received bipartisan support in the House and Senate, with nearly 250 members of the House backing the bill. One Congressional office told us they have not seen so much advocacy for any bill in many years. COVID-19 has shown us we can move quickly, if we want to. It’s time to apply those lessons to diseases that have silently killed so many for far too long.

In December, I spoke before the House on behalf of ACT for ALS and all the courageous men and women — like Mayuri Saxena— who, despite the cruel suffering inflicted on them by this unforgiving disease, have worked so selflessly for the community.

Self-portrait by ALS advocate Mayuri Saxena, created using only her eyes.

ALS COMMUNITY VISIT

In January, I met with heroic members of the ALS community, as ABC Nightline looked on. Fortunately we had a number of good national stories that helped create the motivation for the right type of action.