Bill Would Reduce Cost Of Prescriptions Capitol Comments

Senator Robert Menendez

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), a senior member on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee which has jurisdiction over national health care policy, and Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) introduced the Ensuring Access to Lower-Cost Medicines for Seniors Act – vitally important bipartisan legislation to tackle one of the biggest drivers of the high cost of prescription drugs, particularly for senior adults on Medicare. This builds on Sen. Menendez’s other legislative efforts to lower the cost of prescription drugs for patients at the pharmacy counter.

The Ensuring Access to Lower-Cost Medicines for Seniors Act would ensure that patients can finally benefit from lower-cost products instead of being forced to pay for higher-priced drugs solely because of pricing

LEAD:

Continued From Page 1 prevention, program, sponsored by the Mendez foundation, and the LEAD organization. The program is put on by Corporal Maureen Mcbride and Patrolman Jayme Higgins, Howell Police School Resource Officers, along with Jeanna Ribon, the student assistance counselor for the Howell K-8 school district.

“The curriculum is a 10-lesson program that we bring to the students once a month during the school year. The program teaches good decision making, drug and alcohol awareness and safety, as well as peer pressure refusal skills, and healthy communication skills,” Higgins said.

gimmicks used by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), the drug pricing middlemen. This legislation would clearly establish pricing “tiers” to separate lower-cost generic drugs and biosimilar products from name-brand drugs so that patients pay less out of pocket for truly lower-priced drugs, therefore incentivizing prices to drop for patients.

“I’m proud to be working with Sen. Lankford on this bipartisan solution, which takes on PBM discriminatory formulary practices that unfairly drive up the costs of prescription drugs for seniors on Medicare Part D,” said Menendez. “I am committed to lower costs for my constituents and Americans all across the country at the pharmacy counter, and this legislation is another step towards reforming PBMs so they cannot continue gaming the system on the backs of patients.”

The Ensuring Access to Lower-Cost Medicines for Seniors Act requires:

Medicare Part D to cover a generic or biosimilar if it costs less than its name-brand counterpart.

Higgins discussed how the first lessons of the program is about creating short term goals for the students; whether it’s practicing for tryouts for a sports team, joining a club, making new friends, getting better grades, or any other activity that is important to them.

“We help them understand the process, by explaining that we the teachers have a short-term goal of completing the program with them, and having a graduation at the end of the year,” Higgins said.

This year’s graduation involved a group game review of topics covered in LEAD, a question-and-answer section about middle school, a K9 demonstration by Corporal J. Moore and his partner, and raffle prizes.

Generic drugs or biosimilars to be placed on a generic/biosimilar formulary pricing tier and name-brand drugs to be placed on a brand tier, with the generic tier having a lower insurance cost-sharing requirement for patients than the name-brand tier.

A new tier for specialty generics or biosimilars that would also have a lower insurance cost-sharing requirement for patients.

Sen. Menendez has long advocated for creating a more affordable health care system for every New Jerseyan and Americans across the country. Last year, he helped pass the Inflation Reduction Act, which capped the price of insulin at $35 a month for seniors on Medicare, and he authored aprovision that also capped Medicare beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 a year.

Earlier this month, Sen. Menendez, alongside Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Okla.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), led the introduction of the Patients Before Middlemen (PBM) Act to delink the compensation of PBMs from drug price and utilization in order to better align incentives that will help lower prescription drug costs for Medicare Part D beneficiaries. At a recent Senate Finance Committee hearing, the Senator pressed the witnesses about the impacts vertical integration of PBMs, pricing transparency, and insurer consolidation have on health care consumers. In March, Sen. Menendez questioned witnesses during a Senate Finance Committee about the impact PBMs have on the prescription drug supply chain and how their warped incentive structure drives up prices for patients and consumers. The Senator emphasized how PBMs prefer prescription drugs with a higher list price versus those with a lower list price because they can obtain larger rebates. PBMs do this even though the patient would pay significantly less if they selected the drug with the lower list price.

The Howell Alliance sponsored drawstring bags for every fifth grader to use as they enter middle school along with several prizes like stress relief balls, headphones, and inspirational buttons. “All of this would not be possible without the ongoing relationship we have with the Howell Alliance,” Higgins said.

Although they share their time in all of the Howell school buildings, Ribon, McBride, and Higgins spend a majority of time in the Middle Schools.

“We all love teaching the program and enjoy creating a relationship with the students that can carry on into middle school. We all enjoy being a familiar face to the new 6th graders as they enter middle school,” Higgins said.

This April, Sens. Wyden and Crapo released a legislative framework to address PBMs and issues with the prescription drug supply chain. This framework aims to modernize and enhance federal prescription drug programs, with the goal of reducing drug costs for patients and taxpayers. Sen. Menendez will work to include the PBM Act and the Ensuring Access to Lower-Cost Medicines for Seniors Act in any drug pricing package that the Senate considers.

Dogs:

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“We always find it so defeating when animals are abandoned; the MCSPCA offers resources to prevent just that,” Ross Licitra, Executive Director of the shelter said. “We have helped countless families either keep their pets, or have worked with them to safely surrender their pets into our care. There is no need to put any animal in danger by abandoning them, and we want the public to know that the Monmouth County SPCA is always here to help.”

The MCSPCA is currently looking for information about these dogs. You can contact the Humane Law Enforcement Division at 732440-1539 or email info@monmouthcountyspca.org – tips may remain anonymous.