Kuster, Burns share competing ideas on cutting costs of prescription drugs
Congresswoman says new law will bring costs down
Congresswoman says new law will bring costs down
Congresswoman says new law will bring costs down
A fight over prescription drug costs is shaping up in New Hampshire's 2nd Congressional District.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster is touting legislation that would allow Medicare to negotiate costs with drug companies, while Republican challenger Robert Burns says he knows how to drive those costs even lower.
On the campaign trail Tuesday, Kuster highlighted her vote in favor of the legislative package known as the Inflation Reduction Act, one element of which will allow Medicare to negotiate how much it pays for prescription drugs.
"And the cost of prescription drugs will come down, and not just for seniors but for everyone, because so many of the private insurers follow the Medicare rates," said Kuster, who added that cost reductions should begin in January.
Burns said Congress can do better. He runs a pharmaceutical quality control business and contends that the real driver of prescription drug costs is excessive federal regulation.
"It's all about this absolute grift and bureaucracy of the (Food and Drug Administration) and the companies that are making billions of dollars creating these regulations," he said.
Burns said there are changes that could be made immediately to the regulatory process that would make pharmaceutical production less expensive.
"We do something called validation," he said. "I have a piece of software. I have a computer. I validate it. I make sure that software works, but I have to re-check it every time I install it here at a pharmaceutical company here in the United States. They don't do that in other countries. We're the only country that does this."
For Kuster, the difference is that Medicare drug price negotiation is already on the books.
"We'll stop the price gouging by Big Pharma that's been a problem for many, many years," she said. "People pay more than their fair share for prescription medication."
Seniors in the district said they need all the help they can get.
"We're on a fixed income, and our pension and Social Security isn't going up," said Lois Friedrich, of Loudon. "So, what you could afford a year ago, you can't afford now. And seniors at 73 shouldn't have to go out to work to stay well."