WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) released the following statement today in response to White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer confirming that President Trump supports allowing Medicare to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for lower prices of prescription drugs.

Last month, Senator King reintroduced the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act, legislation that would lower prescription drug prices for seniors by allowing Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs. Current law only allows for bargaining by private plan sponsors and expressly bans Medicare from doing so. This legislation would help cut costs for nearly 41 million seniors enrolled in Medicare Part D and boost Medicare savings.

            “Maine seniors, many of whom live on limited, fixed-incomes, are reaching deeper and deeper into their pockets to pay for the prescription drugs they need while pharmaceutical companies are boosting profits. That’s just unfair and it’s wrong,” Senator King said. “So I’m glad to hear that President Trump wants to allow Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices for seniors. After all, what’s more common-sense than saving seniors money and saving taxpayers money? I urge the President to work with Congress to pass the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act as soon as possible.”

In response to a question today about whether President Trump supports Medicare drug price negotiation, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer responded, “He’s for it, yes.”

The Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act, introduced by Senator King and his colleagues in early January, would allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to directly negotiate with drug companies for price discounts for the Medicare Prescription Drug Program, eliminating the “non-interference” clause that expressly bans Medicare from negotiating for the best possible prices. The government can harness the bargaining power of nearly 41 million seniors to negotiate bigger discounts than insurance companies. The National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare has estimated that allowing the Secretary to negotiate directly for Medicare prescription drug discounts could save $24 billion annually – or more than $200 billion over 10 years.

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