Prescription drug prices are too expensive and prices continue to rise at intolerable rates, leading many Coloradans like me to choose between paying outrageous prices or rationing life-sustaining medications.

Pharmaceutical companies use anti-competitive tactics that allow them to hike their prices at 10 times the rate of inflation. As this crisis worsens, I encourage U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner to pay more attention to this critical issue. I urge him to support The Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act of 2019.

This drug pricing package – which recently passed out of the Senate Finance Committee with bipartisan support – is the best opportunity Congress has to deliver real relief to patients in Colorado and across the country.

Included in this package are a number of market-based solutions that will help rein in out-of-control drug prices by keeping these prices in line with inflation, boosting transparency and increasing competition. Our older citizens would also benefit immediately under this legislation thanks to measures that would provide much-needed reform to Medicare Part D. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that Medicare Part D beneficiaries would save $32 billion in lower premiums and out-of-pocket costs.

By advancing The Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act of 2019 on the Senate floor, both Colorado Sens. Gardner and Michael Bennet can keep their commitments to tackle this crisis and enact meaningful change for Colorado patients and families.

Gail J. deVore

Denver

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