46 organizations today applauded Chairman Chuck Grassley and Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein for scheduling a markup of the bipartisan, bicameral Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples (CREATES) Act. Senators Grassley, Feinstein, Leahy, and their 24 bipartisan Senate colleagues who have co-sponsored the CREATES Act deserve credit for their leadership on the critical issue of reining-in out-of-control prescription drug prices.
This coalition of signatories represents a broad-based and diverse cross-section of stakeholders – including patients and payers, physicians and consumers, progressives and conservatives, businesses and unions – all of whom have come together in strong support of this important legislation.
The letter reads, in part:
We, the undersigned, commend you for your leadership and commitment to reducing out-of-control prescription drug prices and stopping anti-competitive abuses that keep drug prices high. We are encouraged that the Senate Judiciary Committee has noticed a markup of the Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples (CREATES) Act (S. 974). We thank you for your efforts to move this important piece of legislation through the Committee.
…
The CREATES Act is a bipartisan, market-based reform that will speed the introduction of generic and biosimilar competition for brand-name drugs. It is a highly-targeted remedy that will end the anticompetitive abuses utilized by some brand-name manufacturers, help restore the balance between innovation and affordability that Congress intended, and achieve the goal of more affordable prescription drugs. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that enacting the CREATES Act would save $3.8 billion over ten years.
Read the full letter here, and the complete list of signatories is below:
AARP
AFL-CIO
Alliance for Retired Americans
Alliance of Community Health Plans
America’s Health Insurance Plans
America’s Physician Groups
American College of Physicians
American Consumer Institute
American Hospital Association
American Gastroenterological Association
ASHP (American Society of Health System Pharmacists)
Anthem
Ascension
Association for Accessible Medicines
Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
Blue Shield of California
Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing
Cancer Prevention and Treatment Fund
Chronic Illness Advocacy & Awareness Group
Coalition to Reduce Federal Spending
Colorado Consumer Health Initiative
Consumers Union
CVS Health
Doctors for America
Express Scripts
Families USA
Federation of American Hospitals
FreedomWorks
Greater New York Hospital Association
Healthcare Supply Chain Association
Kaiser Permanente
Knowledge Ecology International
National Coalition on Health Care
National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
National Physicians Alliance
Patients for Affordable Drugs
People of Faith for Access to Medicines
Pharmaceutical Care Management Association
Premier Healthcare Alliance
Prime Therapeutics
Public Citizen
Social Security Works
Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut
Vizient