U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) met with senior advocates in Howell on July 7, 2021, to discuss her Real Time Benefits Act, which will let patients comparison-shop prescription drugs between different brands and at different pharmacy locations. The bill, signed into law by former President Donald Trump, will improve transparency and affordability around prescription drugs.
The discussion at Livingston County Catholic Charities was the second stop on Slotkin’s three-day “Cost of Care” Tour across Michigan’s 8th District.
Slotkin’s legislation creates a tool that will enable doctors and patients to find the lowest-cost drug available by comparing alternatives and prices at different pharmacies. By increasing price transparency, the bill also encourages competition to help bring drug costs down across the board.
Slotkin co-sponsored the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, which would allow the federal government to negotiate better drug prices for Medicare and make those negotiated prices available to commercial health insurance plans. The CBO estimates that drugs subject to negotiation would see price reductions of up to 55 percent. The bill would also cap the out-of-pocket spending of Medicare beneficiaries on prescription drugs at $2,000 per year.
She is also leading a bill to expand coverage for routine eye care for those on Medicare, and pushed for another in the 116th Congress that would end the tax subsidies pharmaceutical companies currently receive for running direct-to-consumer advertising, like on television.