Today, Education and Labor Committee Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (R-NC) spoke on
the House Floor in opposition to H.R. 6833, the so-called Affordable Insulin Now Act, which would bring our country one step closer to a socialist health care system.
“Americans are rightly concerned about the price of prescription drugs, but Democrats are trying to solve this problem in the wrong way—as usual. Instead of discussing bipartisan, commonsense legislation to address the rising costs of prescription drugs, we are debating H.R. 6833.
“This radical bill is another attempt by the Left to advance a government takeover of prescription drug pricing…
“H.R. 6833 won’t lower costs. It’s a smokescreen that will raise premiums for workers and seniors when inflation is at a 40-year high. Why are Democrats knowingly raising health care premiums on the majority of Americans when so many families are struggling to pay for gas and put food on the table? Four out of five Americans in large group plans already pay under $35 a month for insulin. This bill would raise the health care costs for the vast majority of working Americans.
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“This legislation will only worsen the root problem of high insulin prices, which is a lack of competition in the market. H.R. 6833 will lead to fewer approved generic insulin brands, making the insulin monopoly even worse. If Democrats really want to decrease the price of insulin, they should pave the way for more competition, not less.
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“This legislation would be the largest expansion of federal control over Americans’ private health insurance since Obamacare. We must stop the federal government from wedging its foot in the door of our health care system and moving us one step closer to a socialist, single-payer system like Medicare for All. In fact, this week the Chair of the Progressive Caucus said she was 'fighting to make it the law of the land.'
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“The free market is the reason the United States outpaces every other country in developing life-saving cures and treatments—particularly countries with socialized medicine. Federal drug-pricing mandates will discourage medical innovation, resulting in fewer cures which will keep Americans from receiving the therapies they rely upon.
“Instead of perpetuating Obama-era schemes to expand federal control over Americans’ health insurance, the Biden administration and Congressional Democrats should bring to the Floor H.R. 19, the bipartisan Lower Costs, More Cures Act.
“Every single provision in H.R. 19 has bipartisan support. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree that this legislation will lower health care costs and protect America’s status as a leading health care innovator.
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“Supporting socialist drug pricing isn’t a solution, which is why I am rejecting this one-sided, harmful bill. I urge my Democrat colleagues to support the Lower Costs, More Cures Act, bipartisan legislation that will lower drug costs for Americans without limiting access to cures.”
Watch the full remarks here.
Original source can be found here.
