On Friday, Senator Reverend Warnock chaired the Senate Aging Committee’s first field hearing in Georgia focused on his efforts to lower prescription drug costs for seniors; “Affordable Prescriptions Now: Examining Legislation to Lower Costs for Seniors” hearing featured testimony from local patients and experts

ICYMI from the AJC: Warnock focuses Senate hearing on curbing drug prices

ICYMI from the Georgia Recorder: Warnock pushes caps on prescription costs, negotiated Medicare drug prices

ICYMI from CW 69: Sen. Warnock chairs congressional hearing in Georgia on push to lower prescription drug costs

ICYMI from Fox 5: “Senator Reverend Warnock is on a mission to lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors”

Washington, D.C. — Last week, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), a member of the Senate Aging Committee, chaired the committee’s first field hearing in Georgia discussing the urgent need to lower prescription drug costs for seniors and highlighting his efforts in Washington to pass legislation to that effect. The hearing, titled “Affordable Prescriptions Now: Examining Legislation to Lower Costs for Seniors,” took place in Fayetteville, Georgia, and featured live testimony from local patients, health care professionals and medical experts.

See more coverage of Senator Reverend Warnock’s field hearing and efforts to lower prescription drugs below:

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Warnock focuses Senate hearing on curbing drug prices

July 1, 2022

• “U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock led a field hearing of the U.S. Senate Aging Committee in Fayetteville on Friday focused on soaring prescription drug prices.”

• “Warnock… has pushed to limit insulin costs at $35 a month and cap the out-of-pocket costs of prescription drugs covered through Medicare at $2,000 a year. He also wants to give Medicare more power to negotiate drug prices.”

• “I’m focused on pushing legislation to lower costs on everything, from prescription drugs to gas to groceries,” said Warnock…

• “The Democrat said the issue is personal to him. His 84-year-old mother and older parishioners in his church, Ebenezer Baptist Church, have struggled with rising pharmaceutical costs. Some of his congregants, he said, have been forced to ration insulin.”

• ‘“If you can’t afford it, you can’t access it,” said Warnock, who noted that some cancer-fighting drugs cost more than $1,000 a day. Warnock said the findings at the hearing will boost his case in Washington for new limits on drug prices.”

• ‘“No one should be forced between affording their medication and putting food on their table. But these decisions are all too real for Georgia’s senior,” he said. “And the testimony shows how important it is for Congress to act on this issue – and act now.”’

Georgia Recorder: Warnock pushes caps on prescription costs, negotiated Medicare drug prices

July 2, 2022

• ‘“People don’t know which way to turn,” Warnock said after the hearing. “They’re already navigating just the health care issues themselves, but then compounded by the issue of affordability, and this is something that Congress can do something about, and we ought to do what we can do.”’

• “Warnock said he intends to return to Washington after Independence Day to push for a pair of bills to ease the strain on seniors’ pocketbooks. The Capping Drug Costs for Seniors Act would cap the out-of-pocket costs of prescription drugs for Medicare Part D users to $2,000 per month, and the Affordable Insulin Now Act would lower insulin costs to $35 per month. Warnock said he also supports allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices.”

• “Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Warnock said Congress’ ability to address concerns like high prescription prices will require people to speak out. “When you look at this issue around prescription drugs and the fact that Medicare can’t even negotiate cost, why is that? It’s because somebody other than the people increasingly has a stranglehold on the democracy,” he said. “It is these kinds of anti-democratic forces, whether we’re talking about dark money in our politics, or the outsize influence of bad actors in the corporate sphere, who are price gouging right now, we can do something about all of these things to the degree that the people’s voices are heard in the democracy.”’

CW 69: Sen. Warnock chairs congressional hearing in Georgia on push to lower prescription drug costs

July 1, 2022

• “US Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) is waging a battle to bring down the high costs of prescription drugs. Warnock visited Fayetteville Senior Services to hear from seniors and healthcare advocates about skyrocketing drug costs. He chaired the Senate Aging Committee’s first congressional hearing in Georgia.”

• ‘“Something I hear consistently from Georgians, especially seniors, is about how they’re being squeezed by the high cost of prescription drugs and the burden it puts on their health and their wallets,” said Warnock.”’

• “The number one reason people don’t fill prescriptions is the cost. Warnock says it’s an urgent call for Congress to pass his proposed legislation capping drug costs at $2,000 a year. It would also put more of the cost burden on drug manufacturers.”

• “Warnock proposed separate legislation capping the cost of insulin at $35 a month, which is now part of a bipartisan measure. This week, Sanofi, an insulin drug manufacturer, announced it has done just that for all uninsured patients.”

• ‘“Seniors shouldn’t have to choose between buying groceries and buying drugs that they need,” said Warnock…“Medicare needs to be able to negotiate the cost of prescription drugs. We need to pass the legislation that will cap the costs,” Warnock said.”

Fox 5 Atlanta: “Senator Reverend Warnock is on a mission to lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors”

July 2, 2022

·      “[Senator] Warnock along with members of the Senate Aging Committee held its first hearing in the state. The group heard from Georgians and doctors directly affected by the high cost of prescription drugs”

·      Senator Warnock: “it is unacceptable that in our country, one of the richest in the world, seniors are making impossible decisions about whether or not to pay for life saving medication or other basic essentials. No one should be forced to choose between affording the medication and putting food on the table.”’

·      “In April, the Senator introduced the Capping Drug Costs for Seniors Act. The bill would expand current Medicare coverage and discount programs for better coverage.”

Senator Warnock has been a vocal advocate for Georgia’s seniors, and has been working for months to pass legislation to lower prescription drug costs for seniors—including his Capping Drug Costs for Seniors Act which would cap prescription drugs under Medicare Part D at $2,000 a year, and his Affordable Insulin Now Act which would cap insulin costs at $35 a month; his insulin legislation was recently included in a newly-unveiled bipartisan insulin proposal. Additionally, Senator Warnock has supported efforts in the Senate to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices, which would drive down many seniors’ costs for life-saving medication.

###