Maine 1st District Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree criticized the Trump administration for abandoning pledges to let the federal government’s Medicare program negotiate lower drug prices and to allow drugs to be reimported from Canada.
Pingree said she believes consumers will not see any relief from rising drug costs unless both of those steps are taken.
Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas dismissed Trump’s plan as “a sugar-coated nothing pill.”
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chairman of the Senate Aging Committee and a member of the Senate Health Committee, called the administration’s plan an encouraging step forward. She has led bipartisan efforts in Congress to increase the affordability and accessibility of prescription drugs.
In a statement Friday, she said, “Last month, I introduced two bills that would prohibit health insurers and pharmacy benefit managers from using so-called ‘gag clauses,’ which some companies use to forbid pharmacists from proactively telling consumers if their prescription would cost less if they paid for it out-of-pocket rather than using their insurance. I was pleased to hear the president condemn this egregious practice during his remarks this afternoon.”
– From staff reports
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