U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, delivered remarks on Apr. 16 during a hearing focused on reducing prescription drug costs for American families by promoting competition among generic and biosimilar manufacturers.
The issue is significant as rising health care expenses are impacting families across the country. The committee's discussion centered on strategies to make medications more affordable without discouraging innovation in drug development.
"Life is too expensive right now. Families are struggling to keep up, and much of that is driven by health care costs," Cassidy said in his opening statement. He added that making care less expensive is "the number one issue in my state and across the country." Cassidy also referenced his recently announced Money and Value for Patients (MVP) agenda aimed at improving affordability.
Cassidy highlighted that generics account for about 90 percent of all drugs dispensed in the United States and generated approximately $450 billion in savings in 2024. He noted that while biologic drugs represent only about five percent of prescriptions, they comprise nearly half of total prescription spending due to their complexity and cost.
He said his goal was "to take the lessons learned from generics and apply them to the biosimilars market to bring down prices for Americans." He discussed legislative efforts such as the Ensuring Timely Access to Generics Act and Biosimilar Red Tape Elimination Act as steps toward this aim.
Addressing calls from Ranking Member Bernie Sanders regarding patent protections on certain drugs developed with federal research funding, Cassidy said eliminating patents would undermine incentives for innovation: "Intellectual property protection is key to incentivizing innovation and therefore creating access to life-changing treatments." He credited recent Food and Drug Administration changes with potentially reducing some study costs by up to half.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee works on public health legislation with goals including protecting health and supporting worker rights according to its official website. In the current Congress, Cassidy serves as chair according to the committee's official site. The committee influences federal regulations affecting health care nationwide as reported by its website, provides oversight over relevant laws and agencies according to its official page, and oversees agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) as described by its website.
Cassidy concluded his remarks saying he looked forward "to talking with you all about how we can support the Administration’s efforts to lower drug prices and make health care more affordable for American families."
