WASHINGTON, D.C. — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now launched a seven-figure ad buy today across 12 House districts thanking representatives for supporting proposals to lower drug prices by allowing Medicare negotiation. This campaign counters Big Pharma’s recent attack ads against H.R. 3, a House bill that would allow Medicare to negotiate on behalf of Americans. The ads will run on cable and broadcast in 12 districts during August recess and feature three patients who have struggled to afford their prescription drugs.
“Americans are paying almost four times what people in other wealthy nations pay for the same brand-name drugs. Members of Congress know that 9 out of 10 Americans support reforms that allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices for the people of this country,” said David Mitchell, a cancer patient and founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now.
“We want to send a clear message to those members of the House standing with patients in support of Medicare negotiation — we thank you and we have your back,” Mitchell continued. “Contrary to Big Pharma’s lies, we can have the innovation we need at prices patients can afford. As the president said last week, high drug prices ‘put the squeeze on too many families and strip them of their dignity … Medicare is going to negotiate a fair price!’”
The ads highlight three patient advocates: Jackie, a cancer patient in Muskego, Wisconsin, whose treatment, Revlimid, is priced at over $20,000 per month; Ashley, a psoriatic arthritis patient in Houston who relied on Humira, which is currently priced at $5,968 per month; and Marcus, who lives with type 1 diabetes in Cincinnati and struggles to afford his insulin.
“Because insulin is so expensive, I’ve had to skip and ration my doses,” Marcus, a husband, father, and minister, says in the ad.
“It’s really simple,” Ashley explains. “Prescription drugs don’t work if people can’t afford them.”
The ads end with a message thanking each representative. “Right now, there’s a plan in Congress to let Medicare negotiate lower drug prices,” says the ad in Kansas’ third congressional district. “Sharice Davids supports it. Representative Davids, thank you.”
The ads will run in the following districts:
P4ADNow’s House ads begin airing days after the launch of a new national adthat calls on Congress to allow Medicare to negotiate, as well as a new advocacy website — MedicareNegotiation.org — for patients to advocate for Congress to pass legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices.
The House of Representatives reintroduced Medicare negotiation legislation H.R. 3 in April. Since then, President Biden has called on Congress to allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. The Senate has voted to move forward with drafting a legislative package to deliver on the president’s Build Back Better plan, which includes lowering drug prices through Medicare negotiation, and the Senate Finance Committee is reportedly drafting another bill that would allow Medicare to negotiate, and is likely to be included in the Senate’s final package.
In addition to P4ADNow’s campaign, other groups such as AARP and Protect Our Care are also running sizable ad campaigns to counter pharma’s ads and remind Congress that patients support Medicare negotiation.
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