Sen. Tim Sheehy’s (R., Mont.) legislation designed to to fight foreign drug price manipulation, which was obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter, is receiving support from a suite of conservative organizations, which applaud his “commonsense, market-based solution to restore fairness in global pharmaceutical trade — one that protects American patients today and preserves the innovation ecosystem they will depend on tomorrow.”
Sheehy’s “Use Sovereignty to Reduce Rx Act,” or USTRx Act, is designed to fix how European countries have been “freeloading off of our defense and drug industry for years,” Sheehy explained to the Reporter. “Germany needs to pay their fair share so we can bring prices down for American consumers.”
Now, Americans for Health Excellence, the Council for Affordable Health Coverage, No Patient Left Behind, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, 60 Plus Association, and AMAC Action are writing to Sheehy and Rep. Jodey Arrington (R., Texas) urging them to keep up the work.
“Healthcare costs continue to rise for American patients, and millions of families across the country are looking to Congress and this Administration for real solutions,” the coalition wrote. The signatories include former Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R., Ohio), Saul Anuzis, and Rebecca Weber.
“For decades, high-income nations — including Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, and Japan — have used price controls, market access barriers, and regulatory practices to shift the cost of American and, indeed, global pharmaceutical innovation onto U.S. families,” the conservative coalition wrote. “The result is a system where American patients subsidize the healthcare costs of some of the wealthiest countries in the world, while the treatments they help fund often remain out of reach at home. This arrangement has gone on far too long, and is getting worse through recent actions in Germany to double-down on unfair price controls and the European Union reducing IP rights on pharmaceutical innovation.”
“The USTRx Act is the right approach,” they wrote, endorsing the new legislation. “It deploys existing trade tools and diplomatic mechanisms to hold foreign governments accountable for practices that have disadvantaged American patients for far too long. American pharmaceutical companies deliver life-saving cancer therapies, vaccines, and breakthrough treatments that patients around the world depend on. Sustaining that engine requires R&D investment and a strong regulatory and policy environment that encourages risk. When foreign governments exploit American R&D through price suppression, they are not just shorting U.S. companies. They are burdening American families who depend on cures.”
The conservative groups also point to polling that McLaughlin & Associates conducted to argue that “the American public is squarely behind this effort.”
“A survey of 2,000 likely voters found that nearly three-quarters say it is time for other countries to pay their fair share for American medicines,” they wrote, pointing to McLaughlin’s polling. “Eighty-one percent of voters back using trade negotiations to demand fair pricing from foreign nations. The USTRx Act would lower costs, promote fairness, and preserve America’s global leadership in medical innovation. We are proud to stand with you in this effort and urge your colleagues to join us in advancing this legislation.”
