Lawmakers Must Embrace Free Market Healthcare Solutions by Supporting H.R. 19, The Lower Costs, More Cures Act

For Immediate Release

Contact: David Williams (202-258-6527)

Washington, D.C. – The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) applauds lawmakers for taking a different approach to healthcare by pursuing more free market, transparent solutions. The Lower Costs, More Cures Act (H.R. 19), introduced by Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-Wash.) contains several provisions that should serve as a roadmap for effective healthcare policy and steers clear of the anti-innovation model put forward in H.R. 3.

TPA President David Williams offered the following statement:

“Right now, healthcare is at the top of Americans’ minds, but solutions such as the drug pricing plan offered by Democrats are simply not the answer. In order to pass sweeping ‘infrastructure’ legislation through reconciliation, the current majority wants to offset costs by placing price controls on the prescription drugs patients need in Medicare. Alternatively, the Lower Costs, More Cures Act shows that more effective solutions are possible. First among them are price transparency and direct-to-consumer rebates. These provisions save patients money at the pharmacy counter while allowing them to access the medicines they need without sacrificing our competitive, free-market system in the process.

“The same American healthcare system that shattered records with its COVID-19 vaccines gives Americans access to more treatment options than anywhere in the world. Dangerous proposals such as H.R. 3, however, push policies that lead to more spending, reduced access, limited innovation, and fewer cures. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, nearly 40 new prescription drugs would be kept off the market over the next 20 years under such legislation. This is unacceptable. Increasing bureaucratic restrictions may lower prices in the short term but at the far greater expense of causing worse health outcomes in the future.

“TPA strongly opposes H.R. 3 and any form of international reference pricing or price controls. We believe H.R. 19 provides a more effective roadmap for healthcare policy in the 21^st century and encourage lawmakers to pursue the aspects of the bill that support transparency, competition and less government intervention.”

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Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public through the research, analysis and dissemination of information on the government’s effects on the economy.