III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 151 

Calling on the President and the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to take action to lower prescription drug costs. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 13, 2021 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. BOOKER) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

RESOLUTION 

Calling on the President and the Secretary of Health and 

Human Services to take action to lower prescription drug 

costs. 

Whereas the United States is facing a pandemic, and economic crisis, caused by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 

(COVID–19) that threatens the health and financial wellbeing of nearly every family in the United States; 

Whereas even before the COVID–19 pandemic, consumers 

and patients in the United States were charged higher 

prices for prescription drugs than consumers and patients 

in other countries around the world; 

Whereas families in the United States continue to face financial hardship from unaffordable out-of-pocket costs and 

higher premiums that have been exacerbated by an ecoVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Apr 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR151.IS SR151

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•SRES 151 IS 

nomic crisis and losses in employer-sponsored health coverage; 

Whereas 8 in 10 individuals in the United States say the cost 

of prescriptions is unreasonable, and nearly 3 in 10 individuals across the United States are rationing their medicine due to high prescription drug costs; 

Whereas the prescription drug cost crisis has put families at 

risk for poor health outcomes, increasing the likelihood of 

complications from a severe case of COVID–19 for those 

families; 

Whereas even before the COVID–19 pandemic, people of 

color, including Black, Brown, and indigenous people, 

were disproportionately impacted by high prescription 

drug costs, which was due in part to a higher prevalence 

of chronic conditions in those populations that require expensive prescription drugs; 

Whereas people of color, including Black, Brown, and indigenous people, are dying at much higher rates as a result 

of COVID–19, and other diseases, for which affordable 

prescription drugs can and should be available; 

Whereas any price gouging by pharmaceutical companies is 

a root cause of health disparities in the United States; 

Whereas nearly 1 in 3 individuals in the United States facing 

increased prescription drug costs spend less on basic necessities, including groceries, to account for that increased prescription drug cost; 

Whereas approximately 25 percent of the monthly premium 

for a health care consumer in the United States goes to 

prescription drug costs; 

Whereas more than 1 in 4 health care consumers decline 

other medical tests or procedures, or put off a visit to the 


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•SRES 151 IS 

doctor’s office, because of increased prescription drug 

costs; 

Whereas pharmaceutical companies abuse monopoly control 

granted by the Federal Government, in the form of patents and regulatory exclusivities, to limit competition and 

raise prescription drug costs; 

Whereas 8 out of 10 new drug patents are for slight modifications to existing drugs, not for innovating new drug 

products; 

Whereas 9 out of 10 of the largest pharmaceutical companies 

spend more on sales and marketing than on researching 

new drugs; 

Whereas each of the 356 drugs approved by the Food and 

Drug Administration between 2010 and 2019 was developed through taxpayer-funded research conducted by the 

National Institutes of Health; 

Whereas the 18 pharmaceutical companies on the S&P 500 

spent more money on stock buybacks and dividends than 

on research and development between 2009 and 2018; 

Whereas the pharmaceutical and medical products industry 

spent $295,000,000 on lobbying in 2019, more than any 

other industry and nearly double the next closest industry; 

Whereas the pharmaceutical industry employs more lobbyists 

than there are Members of Congress; 

Whereas the 25 largest pharmaceutical companies in the 

United States achieve an average profit margin above 20 

percent, more than twice the average profit margin of the 

other 500 largest companies in the United States; 


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•SRES 151 IS 

Whereas pharmaceutical spending growth in the United 

States is projected to outpace inflation for the foreseeable 

future; 

Whereas pharmaceutical companies raised the price of 245 

drugs in the first 5 months of the COVID–19 pandemic, 

with the average price increase being 23.8 percent; 

Whereas 61 of the 245 prescription drugs that saw price 

hikes during the first months of the COVID–19 pandemic were being used to treat COVID–19, and another 

30 drugs were undergoing clinical trials for use against 

that virus; 

Whereas nearly 9 in 10 adults in the United States said they 

were concerned the pharmaceutical industry would use 

the pandemic to raise prescription drug prices; 

Whereas the United States spends twice as much money on 

prescription drugs when compared to other economically 

comparable countries, including Canada, France, and the 

United Kingdom, despite purchasing fewer drugs per individual; 

Whereas adults in the United States consistently rank the 

pharmaceutical industry as their least liked industry, 

with the industry being ranked less favorably than the 

oil, banking, and airline industries; 

Whereas 8 out of 10 adults in the United States say prescription drug costs are unreasonable and driven by the desire 

for profits by pharmaceutical companies; 

Whereas the President can license generic competition with 

patented products when it is in the public interest, including to combat abusive price gouging by large pharmaceutical companies; 


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•SRES 151 IS 

Whereas the Secretary of Health and Human Services (referred to in this preamble as the ‘‘Secretary’’) can require reasonable pricing in return for receiving Federal 

funding and other support for research and development; 

and 

Whereas the President and the Secretary can lower prescription drug prices under existing law and authorities: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes the authority of the President 

3 and the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

4 (referred to in this resolution as the ‘‘Secretary’’) to 

5 lower prescription drug prices; 

6 (2) calls on the President and the Secretary to 

7 take administrative action to lower prescription drug 

8 prices under existing law and authorities, includ9 ing— 

10 (A) Federal Government use, pursuant to 

11 section 1498(a) of title 28, United States Code; 

12 (B) march-in rights, pursuant to section 

13 203 of title 35, United States Code; 

14 (C) royalty-free rights, pursuant to sec15 tions 202(c)(4) and 209(d)(1) of title 35, 

16 United States Code; 

17 (D) the Center for Medicare and Medicaid 

18 Innovation, established by section 1115A(a)(1) 


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•SRES 151 IS 

1 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

2 1315a(a)(1)); and 

3 (E) all other existing law and authorities; 

4 and 

5 (3) encourages the President to use existing law 

6 and authorities to align prescription drug prices in 

7 the United States with drug prices in other economi8 cally comparable countries, including Canada, 

9 France, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Germany. 

Æ 


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