Essay on House Passes Strengthening Health Care & Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act

Introduction

The Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act is a Bill that was passed by the mostly democratic house of representatives but is yet to be passed by the mostly republican U.S Senate. The Bill seeks to amend patient protection and affordable care Act to provide for Federal Exchange outreach and educational activities (Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act, 2019). According to the Bill, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHH), ought to conduct outreach and educational activities regarding federal-facilitated exchanges. In essence, the Bill is targeting health insurance exchanges that are established and operated within States by HHS. The Bill will require such activities to inform the potential enrollees about the availability of coverage and related financial assistance under the exchanges. Also, the outreach and educational programs must be provided in linguistically and culturally appropriate formats. If enacted, the Bill would lead to a reduction of prescription drug costs as part of strengthening the Affordable Care Act.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Root Problem

The cost of healthcare is one of the most pressing issues that affect the American population. According to a report by POLITICO-Harvard (2020), most Americans think that the top domestic priority for Donald Trump and Congress in the months leading up to elections should be to lower the cost of healthcare and taking steps to reduce the price of prescription drugs. Most current insurance covers, including Medicare, pay for a limited range of prescription drugs and under limited conditions (Medicare.gov n.d). That leads to high out of pocket costs. For some people, the cost of prescription drugs is well above their capability, and that places them at risk of bankruptcy. The insurance covers that provide full cover for prescription drugs are costly for the average American to afford the cost of its premiums.

Prescription drugs are costly and cost American consumers billions of dollars every year. Data from OECD (2020), indicates that Americans spend an average of $ 1,200 on prescription drugs in a year. That figure is more than other developed countries are paying for prescription drugs such as Sweden, which stands at $ 351, United Kingdom, which stands at $ 497 and Germany at $ 686 (Sarnak, Squires, & Bishop, 2017). In total, pharmaceutical spending accounts for 12 % of health spending (OECD, 2020). Twelve percent is not that high when compared to other developed nations such as Canada at 16 percent and Japan at 18.6 percent. However, the United States' pharmaceutical spending as a percentage of the GDP stands at 2 %, which is higher than most other developed countries, including Japan. It seems the country could benefit from a reduction in the price of prescription drugs as it would increase savings in that sector.

Causes of the Root Problem

The high cost of prescription drugs in the United States can primarily be attributed to two factors. The first one is the price increase of the already available drugs. The second one is the lack of competition in the pharmaceutical industry. According to research conducted by Hernandez et al., (2019), the high cost of prescription drugs is as a result of pharmaceutical companies increase the cost of existing drugs. The research found that manufacturers increase the price of drugs that are already in the market instead of new drugs. Hernandez et al. (2019) indicate that the cost of prescription drugs has increased by as much as 9 percent annually between 2008 and 2016 for the brand name oral prescription drugs. However, even that is not as high as injectables, which have been averaging a 15 percent increase annually within the same period (Hernandez et al., 2019). It is worth noting that inflation has averaged 2 percent within the same period. Scholars such as Gerard Anderson, a professor of health policy and management at John Hopkins University, says that price increases on existing drugs only benefits the manufacturers and insurers (Kodjak, 2019). According to the scholar, such an increase cannot be justified by claiming research and development costs.

The pharmaceutical industry is characterized by low competition that allows for oligopoly. According to Zaret, & Lee, (2016), the lack of competition between pharmaceutical manufacturers is due to the inherent characteristics of the market for pharmaceuticals, the laws restricting competition to protect consumers and incentivize new drug development, and the tactics pharmaceutical companies use to avoid competition by generic drugs. The features for the pharmaceutical industry is that there are high fixed costs for research and development, which restricts entry into the sector. The industry also enjoys low elasticity of demand, which means that an increase in the price of the drug is unlikely to reduce demand for the same drug. Low elasticity gives the drug manufacturers the power to set the price as they deem fit. As a result, it is essential to implement regulations that regulate the power of pharmaceutical companies to increase the price of drugs.

The Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act was introduced on 6th February 2019. It was sponsored by House Representative for the Congressional District, Delaware, at large, which is represented by Lisa Rochester. Despite being mainly associated with the Democrats, the Bill got 25 co-sponsors, including Jefferson Van Drew, who is a Republican representative for New Jersey's 2nd district. On 27th March of the same year, the health committee held a meeting where they deliberated on the Bill. On 3rd April, the committee voted and issued a report to the full chamber recommending further consideration of the Bill. The house committee on energy and commerce issued a report regarding the Bill on 10th May of 2019 (GovTrack.us. (2020). The Bill passed through the house of representatives on 16th May, before being forwarded to the Senate. Despite the Bill managing to pass through the house of representatives, it was a closely contested vote, with 44 percent of the representatives, including Daniel Meuser, who represents my congressional district, voted against the Bill.

Stakeholders

Daniel Meuser is the house representative for the 9th congressional district on a republican ticket. The 9th district covers Berks County, Montour County, Schuylkill County, Carbon County, Columbia County, Luzerne County, Lebanon County, and Northumberland, which is my county of residence. Northumberland county is in the state of Pennsylvania, which is represented by Robert Casey Jr, of the democrat party and Patrick Toomey of the Republican party. Meuser has served in congress since 2019 and is up for re-election in 2020. Due to his short term of service in Congress, Planned Parenthood Action Fund is the only Advocacy Organization that has submitted a legislative rating on him, by giving a zero percent rating. Daniel Meuser sits on three committees and four sub-committees but does not hold a significant position in any of them. Meuser has primarily sponsored three bills, which are AUTO for Veterans Act, Mine Affected Community Energy and Environment Act, and the BASIC Act since taking office. None of which has been enacted so far. He has missed 4.2 percent of the votes, which is higher than the house median of 2.2 percent.

Senators

Unlike Meuser, both Robert Casey Jr and Patrick Toomey have been in congress for more than a decade. Casey is a Senior Senator who has served as the Senator for Pennsylvania since 2007, and he is up for re-election in 2024. His best ratings from Advocacy Organizations come from the Human Rights Campaign and League of Conservation Voters. Casey sits on four house committees and a ranking member in one of them. He also a ranking member in three out of the eight subcommittees on which he sits. Eleven of his bills have been enacted, the most recent one being Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2018. Most of Casey's sponsored bills are on healthcare, taxation, education, labor, and employment at 32%, 17%, 13%, and 11%, respectively (GovTrack.us 2020).

Patrick Toomey is the incumbent junior Senator for Pennsylvania. He has been in office since 2011 and is up for re-election in 2022. Toomey has previously served as the house representative for Pennsylvania's 15th district from 1999 to 2004 on a republican ticket (GovTrack.us. 2020). His best advocacy organization ratings come from Americans for Prosperity, The Club for Growth, and FreedomWorks. His worst ratings are from Planned Parenthood Action Fund, NIAC Action, League of Conservation Voters, and Human Rights Campaign. Patrick Toomey sits in three committees and holds no significant position in any of them. However, Toomey chairs two out of the four committees that he sits. Out of all the bills that Toomey has primarily sponsored, he has had 15 of them enacted. The most recent one being the PACT Act. Most of his sponsored bills are in the areas of Crime and Law Enforcement, International Affairs, Finance, and Financial Sector, and Armed Forces and National Security.

Selected Legislator

However, both Robert Casey and Patrick Toomey tend to a large population, and they can prove difficult to reach. As a result, it is logical to approach Daniel Meuser, who is that representative for Pennsylvania's 9th district, in which I am a resident. He represents a significantly smaller population as compared to the senator's and is more likely to heed to my calls as a resident of his congressional district. While Meuser has not sponsored any bills that are directly related to the issue of health or prescription drugs, his congressional voting activities indicate that he might take an interest in issues related to health. Meuser currently sits on two subcommittees that are related to health. There is the subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions for Education and Labor Committee. Then there is the subcommittee on health for the committee of veteran affairs. Unfortunately, Meuser does not sit on any nursing caucus that might make him more interested in addressing the nursing issue. The only health-related caucuses that he sits are the Alzheimer's Task Force and the Autism Caucus.

Another reason why Daniel Meuser may take an interest in issues related to health is that a significant percentage of contributions received is from Political Action Committees (PAC) (Opensecrets.org. 2020). It is also worth noting that the insurance industry is the most significant contributor to his campaigns. The insurance industry is very interested in the Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act, which could affect the way they do business. The health sector is the fourth largest PAC contributor (Opensecrets.org. 2020). PACUnitatis, which is a Neurosurgeons PAC and they have also taken an interest in Meuser. However, the most eyebrow-raising industry among the list of his contributors is the health products and pharmaceutical industry. There is no doubt what the Bill means for them, and they will be working to stop it from being passed.

Based on previous voting patterns, his contributions to the health-related committees and caucuses, and his campaign contributions, Meuser considers nursing to be an essential part of improving healthcare in the country. Furthermore, Meuser has co-sponsored bills such as the Prescription Drug Price Transparency Act, Middle-Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act of 2019, Nursing Home Workforce Quality Act, Protecting People From Surprise Medical Bills Act and Protect Medicaid Act. Generally, Meuser is not a fan of welfare programs and or bills that seek t...