- Sure, GOP presidential candidates, such as Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, have presented alternatives to the 2010 health-care reform law, but for whatever reason, these proposals haven't gained much traction. (Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), who dropped out of the race Monday, also had an alternative.) Jumping into the prescription drug debate could help elevate those candidates' plans, because prescription drug prices is one of the few health-care issues where Americans agree that the status quo needs to change. In fact, 76 percent of Americans said dealing with prescription drug prices should be Washington's No. 1 health-care priority, according to an April poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
- “It is time to deal with skyrocketing out of pocket costs and runaway prescription drug prices that are going up last year by 12 percent. I mean, it’s disgraceful," said Clinton in Little Rock, Arkansas on Monday. And on Tuesday night, Clinton had more strong comments on the matter: “It has gotten to the point where people are being asked to pay not just hundreds but thousands of dollars for a single pill...That is not the way the market is supposed to work. That is bad actors making a fortune off of people’s misfortune.”
- Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) have also been working across the aisle to draw attention to high drug prices. Last year, the pair asked Gilead Sciences to justify the price of its new hepatitis cure called Sovaldi. The drug has become a symbol of high drug prices, with its $84,000 price tag for a 12-week treatment.
We just don't know WHAT they did.
