The U-S House today passed a bill that aims to stop prescription drug price gouging. The Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act is estimated to save over $500 billion over ten years according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Congresswoman Angie Craig voted in favor of the bill and says it will “end the ban that Congress has on Medicare negotiating drug prices for this nation, and we’ve also written the bill a little more broadly so that those lower prices an also be applied to the private insurance marketplace.” Craig says she’s “already being hit by brand-name drug manufacturers because we’re standing up to them, but this is the number one issue in my Congressional district, the price of prescription drugs and the cost of health care.”
The bill also aims to stop drug companies from overcharging Americans, while charging other countries less for the same drugs. Here’s more with Rep. Craig: