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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman TJ Cox (CA-21) voted to pass H.R. 987, the Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act. The bipartisan omnibus legislation includes three bills that lower prescription drug costs and four measures to reinforce protections for people with pre-existing conditions and expand enrollment in quality, affordable coverage for more Americans. The legislation passed with two Cox amendments, which promote transparency and accountability in the Administration’s expenditures of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) user fees, and ensure that communities with high unemployment are prioritized in the Navigator program – a program created through the ACA that provides education and enrollment assistance to consumers shopping for healthcare coverage.
“For nearly two and a half years now, the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress have tried and failed to repeal the ACA. Had they been successful, 23 million hard-working Americans would have lost their health insurance and been left with nothing. The passage of today’s legislative package is a critical step forward in addressing some of the top concerns of the people of the Central Valley – lowering the costs of prescription drugs and safeguarding the ACA’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions,” said Congressman TJ Cox.
“I was proud to have two of my amendments included in this important legislation, and will continue working with my colleagues to advance bipartisan measures that ensure families in the Central Valley and across our country have access to quality, affordable health care.”
The bipartisan legislative package includes the following seven measures:
Rescinding the Trump Administration’s Devastating Junk Plan Rule: This legislation reinforces protections for people with pre-existing conditions by revoking the Trump Administration’s rule that promotes the sale of junk plans, which discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions and do not cover essential benefits. The MORE Health Education Act & the ENROLL Act: These two pieces of legislation contain provisions similar to those proposed in the bipartisan Alexander-Murray bill introduced in the Senate last Congress, which restores funding for marketplace consumer outreach, education activities, and critical funding for the Navigator program, which the Trump Administration slashed. The Congressional Budget estimates this funding would result in close to 500,000 additional enrollees in affordable coverage and Medicaid each year over the next ten years. The SAVE Act: The SAVE Act appropriates $200 million to assist interested states in creating their own state-based marketplaces. The bill empowers states to implement new approaches that lower costs and expand coverage for American families. The CREATES Act: Certain brand-name manufacturers use tactics to withhold or delay generic manufacturers getting from them the brand drug samples they need to develop their generic products. The bill establishes a process by which generic manufacturers are able to obtain sufficient quantities of the brand drug samples, thereby blocking delaying tactics. The Protecting Consumers Access to Generic Drugs Act: Brand -name drug manufacturers can enter into a “pay-for delay” agreement in which the brand-name manufacturer pays the generic manufacturer to delay bringing a generic equivalent to market, significantly hurting consumers. This bill makes these “pay-for-delay” agreements illegal. The BLOCKING Act: The first generic applicant to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration(FDA) is granted 180 days of market exclusivity, but some generics then fail to move the product to market, called “parking” – thereby blocking other generics from applying to FDA. The bill allows generics to get the market earlier by changing the rules on “parking.”
Watch Congressman Cox introduce his amendments on the House floor.
