DFL Announces Plan to Curb Prescription Drug Prices
House DFL leaders unveiled a new health and human services budget Wednesday in St. Paul. Their proposal aims to cut costs in health care and reduce prices for prescription medications.
DFL leaders say the price of medications is spiraling out of control.
“Minnesotans are struggling to deal with the rapidly increasing cost of prescription drugs. This is unacceptable,” said House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park. “We believe that all Minnesotans deserve access to high quality and affordable health care. Our budget works to ensure that every Minnesotan can afford their health insurance and actually get the care they need when they need it.”
DFL Plan Leverages State Buying Power
Hortman says that instead of “giving money to insurance companies with no strings attached,” the DFL plan would implement health insurance discounts that go directly to consumers. According to Hortman, those discounts would come by leveraging the state’s purchasing power.
DFL leaders have accused Republicans of being too cozy with insurance companies and big pharma. However, GOP leaders have said the DFL plan will just increase the health care tab for everyone.
Currently 350,000 people in Minnesota are uninsured. House DFL members say their budget proposal is transparent.
“We’re going to secure the health care access fund and, in doing that, protect health care for more than a million Minnesotans,” Hortman said. “We’re going to protect women’s access to health care and insure that women’s health care decisions are between them and their doctors. Not them and their employers and them and their politicians.”
