Rep. Chip Roy On H.R 3, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act

Rep. Chip Roy released the following statement Thursday regarding H.R 3, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act:

Today, despite the need for immediate reform that will work, I voted without reservation against the Democrats' partisan prescription drug proposal, H.R. 3.

One need look no farther than a Politico headline this week, "Pelosi brokers deal with liberals on drug pricing bill," to know why the bill has no chance of passage and will do far more harm than good. In a bid to appease the radical leftists of her caucus, the Speaker is pushing a bill that will keep life-saving drugs from the market, destroy an American industry, and completely fail to address the actual and preventable reasons for skyrocketing healthcare prices.

H.R. 3 would put the federal government in the business of fixing the price of prescription drugs. Under the Democrats' bill, the federal government would "negotiate" the prices of drugs, dictating exactly what can be charged for medication. Additionally, if the manufacturers would rather not take the "negotiated" price, they are hit with a tax of up to 95% on the sale of the drug, effectively forcing them to comply through tax retaliation. H.R. 3 would also impose a rebate penalty to be paid to the federal government for increases above the rate of inflation. This will do nothing to address the actual reasons the price of medicine has been going up and it will incentivize manufacturers to set the initial price as high as possible – only hurting patients further.

Another glaring problem with H.R. 3 is the that it would disincentivize innovation, leading to fewer drugs entering the market over the next decade. The Council of Economic Advisors estimates that 100 fewer drugs could be developed over the next decade as a result of H.R. 3. If this bill was implemented, drug manufacturers would have less capital to use for research, innovation, and the means to put a drug through the FDA approval process.

As a Member of Congress, I have been reviewing, cosponsoring, and voting for legislative approaches to address the rising prices of drugs, but this issue is much more than the price of our medicine, and rather a fragment of the larger problem we face in healthcare. The inflating prices of healthcare should be addressed through proper reforms that will bolster the market to actually work, prevent anti-competitive behavior, and at the very least, not use the very real problem vulnerable Americans face by leveraging their healthcare needs in order to push an agenda for socialism. What is it my Democratic colleagues really care about more—the American people who need access to life-saving drugs and relief from burdensome prices, or forcing their socialist agenda?

If my Democratic colleagues were serious about helping Americans afford their healthcare, they would get busy reducing regulations and government-imposed burdens that make it impossible to lower costs, increase market choice, and bring about healthcare freedom. As a cancer survivor, I am grateful for the innovation that saved my life, and yes, prices are far too high, but H.R. 3 is not the right approach.