April 18, 2022

Arizona Alliance Testifies at Sen. Kelly Hearing on Lowering Prescription Drug Prices

Arizona Senator Mark Kelly chaired a U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing in Phoenix on Tuesday entitled, “No Time to Wait: Proposals to Lower Prescription Drug Costs.” Arizona experts, advocates, and patients impacted by rising drug prices, including Dora Vasquez, Executive Director of the Arizona Alliance, offered testimony regarding their experiences.

The hearing examined potential solutions to the ongoing challenge, such as the Kelly-backed bill to cap the monthly price of insulin at $35 that recently passed the House of Representatives, as well as Kelly’s plan to lower prescription drug costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate prices of certain high-cost drugs and ensure that drug companies can’t raise the prices at a pace faster than inflation.

Video of the hearing is available on the Aging Committee’s website.

“Thirty-four percent of seniors here in Arizona are concerned that their household won’t be able to afford their needed prescription drugs in the next year,” said Kelly. “And those concerns, they’re not unfounded. Last year, more than one in 10 Americans aged 65 and older skipped a pill because of the cost.”

“Americans continue to pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs, and prices on hundreds of drugs have already increased by 5% in 2022,” added Richard Fiesta, Executive Director of the national Alliance. “‘No Time to Wait’ was certainly an appropriate title for this hearing.”