Title: A resolution calling on the President and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to take action to lower prescription drug costs.
Policy area: Health

Summary:
This resolution calls on the President and the Department of Health and Human Services to take administrative action to lower U.S. prescription drug prices to align with the prices in other economically comparable countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom, and Japan.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 151 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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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 well-being 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 economic 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 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;
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;
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
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes the authority of the President and the 
        Secretary of Health and Human Services (referred to in this 
        resolution as the ``Secretary'') to lower prescription drug 
        prices;
            (2) calls on the President and the Secretary to take 
        administrative action to lower prescription drug prices under 
        existing law and authorities, including--
                    (A) Federal Government use, pursuant to section 
                1498(a) of title 28, United States Code;
                    (B) march-in rights, pursuant to section 203 of 
                title 35, United States Code;
                    (C) royalty-free rights, pursuant to sections 
                202(c)(4) and 209(d)(1) of title 35, United States 
                Code;
                    (D) the Center for Medicare and Medicaid 
                Innovation, established by section 1115A(a)(1) of the 
                Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1315a(a)(1)); and
                    (E) all other existing law and authorities; and
            (3) encourages the President to use existing law and 
        authorities to align prescription drug prices in the United 
        States with drug prices in other economically comparable 
        countries, including Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Japan, 
        and Germany.
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