Pete Buttigieg, Democratic presidential candidate and mayor of South Bend, Ind., released a plan Oct. 7 to address the cost of prescription drugs called, "Affordable Medicines for All."
Three highlights of the plan:
1. Mr. Buttigieg's plan would allow the federal government to negotiate drug prices for Medicare and his public option plan, first targeting prices for drugs that treat diabetes, asthma, arthritis, HIV and cancer.
2. He pledged to cut Medicare out-of-pocket spending on drugs in half by the end of his first term. Monthly out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs would be capped at $200 for Medicare enrollees and $250 for people with the public option. Low-income Americans with coverage under the public option, Medicare or Medicaid would not be required to pay a co-pay for generic drugs.
3. His administration would increase taxes on pharmaceutical companies, which is intended to help fund the plan. It would also require drug companies to pay rebates when prices increase faster than inflation. If a pharmaceutical company engages in "abusive pricing" practices, Mr. Buttigieg pledged to revoke the company's patents.
Read more about his drug pricing platform here.
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