Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Tuesday issued the following statement after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a rule that would cover Aduhelm, the outrageously expensive Alzheimer’s treatment, and similar drugs in development only for people enrolled in qualifying clinical trials:
Biogen’s outrageous original price for Aduhelm, $56,000 per year, is the poster child for how dysfunctional our drug pricing system has become and it is the perfect example of why Medicare should be negotiating drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry. If the administration takes no action, Medicare recipients will continue to see their biggest premium increase in history, all because of Biogen’s greed. That cannot be allowed to happen.
Beyond the incredibly high price, Aduhelm has not been proven to be effective by the scientific community. It was rejected for coverage by the Veterans Health Administration and at least a half a dozen private health insurance companies in the United States, while 10 out of the 11 experts on the Food and Drug Administration’s advisory council voted against approval of the treatment.
Today’s action by CMS is an important step forward, especially following Secretary Becerra’s move yesterday to direct Medicare to reconsider a premium rate hike caused in part by the outrageous price of Aduhelm. I urge the administration to immediately lower Medicare premiums by at least $11.50 a month and to provide a refund to 57 million senior citizens for the premium increases that have already gone into effect this month. I would also urge the President to reinstate and expand the reasonable pricing clause that requires drug makers who have benefited from taxpayer funded research to charge reasonable prices for drugs and treatments. Americans should not have to pay an outrageous price for a drug that their tax dollars helped develop.
In early December of 2021, Sen. Sanders sent a letter to President Biden urging his administration to delay an increase in Medicare premiums coming in 2022 following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of Aduhelm. Sanders first spoke out about Biogen’s outrageous greed when the original $56,000 price tag for the treatment was released in July of last year.
Categories: Health Care
Bernie’s ‘socialist’ strawman strikes again.
Why will Medicare recipients continue to see their biggest premium increase in history? All because of Biogen’s greed, when Biogen’s Aduhelm hasn’t been proven to be effective by the scientific community? They could charge $1M a year. So what? No one will buy it.
After all, it was rejected for coverage by the Veterans Health Administration and at least a half a dozen private health insurance companies in the United States, while 10 out of the 11 experts on the Food and Drug Administration’s advisory council voted against approval of the treatment.
But that’s not Bernie’s real concern. He just wants to make it look like he’s advocating for we little people. As though we can’t decide for ourselves what not to buy.
If Bernie were really interested in our well-being, he’d stop the cronyism in the National Institutes for Health that funds the development of these drugs, he’d stop forcing parents to have their children vaccinated with dangerous experimental medications, stop the shutdowns, and let us get back to our lives – deciding for ourselves, as we always have, what’s in our own best interest, and stop pretending he cares for everyone but himself.
If Bernie stuck to battles like this he could do some good. Low income SS recipients got much of their COL increase taken by the Medicare increase. Which means many of them have perhaps $20/month “extra” all while the cost of food, gas, home heating and everything else has skyrocketed. All so big Pharma can continue to make obscene profits while benefiting no one but themselves.
This leaves no doubt as to who owns this government, that includes Bernie!! Who in their right mind would pass a bill not allowing drug price negotiations. By the way the 56K is for a drug that doesn’t work.