Indiana Senator Mike Braun says drug companies need to quit acting like a monopoly or risk the government doing it for them.
Braun emphasizes he’s a fiscal conservative, but he says conservatism resistance to government intervention can’t extend to cases where the free market isn’t functioning freely. He told a Facebook and telephone town hall with A-A-R-P members that’s the case with prescription drugs. He argues with a few rare exceptions, such as laser eye surgery, the health care market lacks transparency in pricing. He charges the industry has abused what he describes as a near monopoly.
Braun’s authored one bill to limit drug price increases to 10-percent a year. He says consumers would never stand for prices skyrocketing overnight on any other product. Another bill, co-authored with Utah Republican and former presidential nominee Mitt Romney, would base your co-pay on a drug’s price after rebates, not before. Braun says the deals cut with employers’ benefit managers distort the end market
