Congresswoman Angie Craig Pushes To Lower The Cost Of Prescription Drugs

U.S. Rep. Angie Craig deeply understands that too many families are facing the heart of today's healthcare problem: if healthcare isn't affordable, it isn't accessible.

That is why she is backing a suite of bills to lower the skyrocketing cost of necessary prescription medication.

"I introduced the State Health Care Premium Reduction Act as a first step toward lowering the cost of health insurance, but there's more work to do to make healthcare more accessible," said Rep. Angie Craig. "Americans deserve access to more affordable prescription medicine, whether that's ending the unfair practice of pay for delay or making sure more affordable generic drug options or re-importation from Canada are available."

Rep. Craig has cosponsored the following bills:

• H.R. 478, the Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act of 2019, which would allow consumers to import medications from Canada.
• H.R. 938, the Bringing Low-cost Options and Competition while Keeping Incentives for New Generics (BLOCKING) Act of 2019, which is a bipartisan solution to remove a current 180-day block on bringing generic prescription drugs to the market.
• H.R. 1499, the Protecting Consumer Access to Generic Drugs Act of 2019, which would end the unfair practice of brand name drug companies paying to keep more affordable options off the market, commonly known as pay for delay.
• H.R.965, the CREATES Act, which would prohibit brand name pharmaceutical companies from blocking the ability of generic and biosimilar manufacturers to make more affordable, safe generic and biosimilar alternatives. The bill has strong bipartisan support and is backed by the AARP and Association for Accessible Medicines.

Along with Rep. Craig's bill, the State Health Care Premium Reduction Act, House Resolutions 938, 1499, and 965 were advanced favorably by the Energy & Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Health and are expecting further House consideration in the near future.