By Kitt Gash, special to Statehouse Report | Bipartisanship is a rare thing these days, especially in Washington, where it seems like a relic of a bygone era. Regardless of where they come from or what they’ve been told by their constituents, our elected officials seem to vote only according to the letter D or R next to their name. Still, every once in awhile an issue cuts through the noise and brings both sides together.
High prescription drug prices have gotten so unmanageable that Democrats and Republicans alike agree that something needs to be done. Yet, both sides are also talking about voting for President Trump’s new NAFTA, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which could stick Americans with even higher prices for medicines for years to come.
USMCA proponents point to reduced tariffs on agricultural products and requirements that cars and trucks sold in North America to be made from a greater percentage (75 percent) of U.S.-made parts. These could potentially be beneficial to South Carolina workers — but only if there is a strong way to enforce these provisions and make sure Canada and Mexico adhere to the agreement. Otherwise, these promises are not worth the paper they are printed on and South Carolina’s workers, farmers and consumers will pay the price. We must demand better.
Lower tariffs and auto trade provisions are about what you’d expect a trade agreement to include. But the deal also includes a broad chapter on intellectual property, and locks in a long patent life for costly brand biologic drugs. More than $125 billion was spent on biologic drugs, which are pharmaceuticals made from living organisms, last year alone. This spending falls to patients multiple times: in the form of higher insurance premiums, out-of-pocket costs they have to pay directly, and higher taxes from state Medicaid programs ill-equipped to deal with exploding costs.
Senior citizens, in particular, are saddled with these costs. Many live on fixed incomes and are unable to afford double-digit price increases. Some cut their pills in half or ration them to last longer than they’re supposed to, making them less effective in the long run. While doctors advise against this, patients forced to choose between paying rent and filling prescriptions are left with little choice.
Unfortunately, the USMCA, in its current form, would supersede U.S. law if approved, preventing Congress from acting to reduce the length of the legal monopoly that biologic drugs have in the United States. It would also expand the types of biologic drugs covered by the patent terms’ legal monopoly, without providing additional transparency or any other measures to encourage competition between brand-name biologic drugs and lower-cost, medically equivalent “biosimilars.”
Generic drugs saved South Carolinians $4.5 billion in 2017. Most generics are filled at a cost of $20 or less, with an average co-pay of about $6. Yet, the USMCA does nothing to encourage competition between generic and brand-name producers, actually protecting the profits of big brand-name pharmaceutical corporations under the negotiated agreement.
Congressman Joe Cunningham, D-S.C., has declared repeatedly that lowering prescription drug prices is a priority for him. He’s introduced bills to tackle high prices, but has become a target for lobbyists and others who want to pass the Trump Administration’s agreement quickly, without considering changes that would make it better for patients. Congress has done this before – in 2007, the House pushed to renegotiate the prescription drug portion of trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and Korea, and the Bush Administration agreed to the changes.
The South Carolina chapter of the Alliance for Retired Americans strongly supports changes to the USMCA which would make it friendlier to patients and older Americans struggling with their health care costs. So do more than two dozen other organizations, including labor unions, taxpayer advocates, senior citizens’ groups, and others, who wrote to the Trump Administration last fall calling for changes. Congressman Cunningham should stand up for South Carolina and oppose the Big Pharma giveaways in the new NAFTA. Back at home, we need the help.
Charleston resident Kitt Gash is a member of the South Carolina Alliance for Retired Americans.
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