Hillary Clinton on Tuesday will roll out a plan to rein in prescription drug costs by forcing pharmaceutical companies to reinvest their profits into research and allowing for more generic and imported drugs.
The proposal, which she’ll outline in a speech in Iowa later today, would also allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug costs and cap out-of-pocket expenses, according to details of the plan sent out by the campaign.
The plan seeks to address a key shortcoming of Obamacare, President Obama’s signature health law, as the Democratic front-runner aims to show how she would put her imprint on it.
On Monday, Clinton sent out a tweet referencing a New York Times article about a drug to treat a life-threatening parasitic infection that increased in price overnight from $13.50 to $750 per tablet.
"Price gouging like this in the specialty drug market is outrageous. Tomorrow I'll lay out a plan to take it on,’’ she said.
The nation’s largest companies are charging Americans thousands of dollars for new drugs that are often priced lower in other developed nations while receiving billions of taxpayer dollars for basic research, according to the campaign.
The prescription drug plan is part of a broader focus on health care this week.
On Wednesday, she’ll outline a separate set of proposals to address other out-of-pocket health costs that patients face.
Clinton, who’s also made executive pay a focus of her campaign, will highlight the higher profit margins the largest pharmaceutical companies enjoy relative to other industries.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who's also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, is sponsoring legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. His legislation would also allow individuals and resellers to import prescription drugs from Canada, which offers lower-cost drugs. Ninety percent of seniors and around half of all Americans take a prescription drug. A typical senior enrolled in Medicare spends more than $500 per year out of pocket to buy prescription drugs.
According to an August survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, more than 70% of Americans feel that drug costs are unreasonable and that drug companies put profits before people.
Eighty-three percent said they favor allowing the federal government to negotiate with drug companies to get a lower price.
The poll also found that the public continues to be skeptical of the Affordable Care Act, with 44% having a favorable view and 41% an unfavorable one.
Clinton's plan, according to the campaign, will propose to:
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