WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) announced today that despite the political noise and the partisan backlog in our nation’s capital, Washington is still delivering for the American people. Cassidy recently saved taxpayers $3.1 billion on drug prices with President Trump signing his Fair and Accurate Medicaid Pricing (AMP) Act into law. The bipartisan legislation closes a loophole which allows drug companies to overcharge taxpayers for drugs purchased through Medicaid.
“Even though Democrats are occupied trying to impeach the president, work is getting done. The president signed into law my legislation that saves taxpayers $3.1 billion on drug prices,” said Dr. Cassidy.
The amount that a company is required to pay state governments in rebates through the Medicaid program is determined by a measure called the Average Manufacturer Price. Right now, pharmaceutical companies can manipulate the Average Manufacturer Price by including the price of both branded drugs and authorized generic drugs in the calculation. The bipartisan Fair and Accurate Medicaid Pricing (AMP) Act of 2019 would close that loophole by removing authorized generics, which are typically less expensive than brand drugs, from being used in the company’s calculations.
The bill is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), John Cornyn (R-TX), Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Todd Young (R-IN).
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