BILLINGS, Mont. — Senator Daines announced in a press conference this morning that the U.S. Senate Finance Committee passed a bill that could potentially lower the cost of prescription drugs.
Daines says months of work with the U.S. Senate Finance Committee have turned into the passing of a major bipartisan prescription drug reform package, “What we saw today is that bipartisan compromise isn’t dead. Today was about making life easier for Montanans. It’s about cutting out of pocket costs and lowering prescription drug costs for seniors, for hardworking moms and dads, for grandmas and grandpas, frankly for Montanans in every corner of our state.”
Daines says some Montanans are paying double sometimes even triple the price for their medications compared to other countries. Because of this, Daines says some Montanans will dangerously skip doses or stretch their medications out in order to save money.
Colleen Cooper, a resident of the Mission Ridge Retirement Community, says she has a very high copay on things like inhalers, blood thinners, and generic drugs. “I’m lucky that I have so far been able to afford my bills. Now I just kind of wince and then I pay them because I need them. And I don’t know what people do who are diabetic and take insulin and stuff like that because I’m sure it’s really hurting them. It’s not just senior citizens, it’s people all across the board in the United States, ” says Cooper.
If the bill gets put into law, Senator Daines says it will save medicare beneficiaries over $20 billion in out-of-pocket costs and lower the burden of tax payers. Daines informs us that the pricing reform has the support of both Democrats and Republicans including President Trump.