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Texan lawmakers fight for affordable prescriptions at Capitol

Republican Senator John Cornyn and Democratic Congressman Lloyd Doggett have both introduced bills to hold big drug companies accountable and make sure drug pri...
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nexstar) — Two Texans are leading efforts in Congress to lowerprescription drug prices.

Republican Senator John Cornyn and Democratic Congressman LloydDoggett have both introduced bills to hold big drug companies accountable andmake sure drug prices are affordable.

Doggett says many Americans can’t afford to pay for theirprescription medicine — he’s leading the effort in the House to lower the costof prescription drugs.

“I really see this as a matter of life and death,” saidDoggett.

His bill would hold the big drug companies accountable bygiving the federal government the power to negotiate prices with drug makers.

Across the Capitol, Cornyn is also fighting for affordablemedicine. 

He says his bill would make it harder for big drugcompanies to extend their patents of expensive name brand drugs and avoidgeneric competition.

“Our goal is to lower out of pocket costs with risingdeductables and copays,” Cornyn said.

After six months of negotiations, Cornyn’s bill cleared the SenateFinance Committee and is now heading to the floor for a vote, but Doggett saysthe House is taking much longer.

Doggett says the hold up is House leadership.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she is working on her ownbill, but Doggett says if it doesn’t do enough to crack down on big drugcompanies, he won’t support it.

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