Letter to the editor: Bringing down out-of-control prescription drug prices

The op-ed “AARP’s drug pricing conflict of interest” (Jan. 1, TribLIVE) reads like all the other opinions that Big Pharma and its enablers recycle. If anyone has a conflict, it is astroturf groups like Patients Rising, claiming to speak for patients but cozying up to Big Pharma.

For decades, millions of seniors across our country have been forced to pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. Many older Americans must decide between lifesaving medications or paying for other necessities like rent or food.

Congress moved one step closer to solving this issue when the House passed the Build Back Better Act, which finally would allow Medicare to negotiate the prices it pays for some prescription drugs. In every other market, buyers and sellers negotiate, and bigger buyers use their buying power to get what amounts to a bulk discount. But Big Pharma has had its handcuffs on Medicare for well over a decade, and that must change.

Blocking change hurts seniors, everyone who pays into health insurance and taxpayers because we all bear the costs of today’s out-of- control drug prices through higher premiums, cost-sharing and taxes.

Here is the truth: The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says reform would result in one fewer new drug out of hundreds over the next decade; meanwhile, millions of seniors would have more affordable access. Medicines only work if patients can afford them.

John Hishta

Washington, D.C.

The writer is senior vice president of campaigns for AARP.