Raphael Warnock’s bill would cap Medicare drug costs at $2,000 per year

The out-of-pocket cost of prescription drugs covered through Medicare would be capped at $2,000 a year under legislation introduced into the U.S. Senate by Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.

More than 1.2 million senior citizens paid more than $2,000 for prescription drugs in 2019.

“Our country should never allow for our seniors to have to ration or skip the medication they need because they can’t afford it.” Warnock said Wednesday.

Warnock’s bill would reduce the cap on out-of-pocket costs of prescription drugs for seniors from the current $3,000. It also would require drug manufacturers to take on more of the cost burden, reducing government subsidies and saving tax dollars.

Warnock, a member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, also is a cosponsor of legislation that would let Medicare directly negotiate drug prices. Democrats in Congress have long pushed to allow such negotiations without success.

A third bill introduced by the senator calls for capping the cost of insulin used by diabetics at $35 a month. The U.S. House of Representatives passed an insulin cap last week.

Warnock said he’s working to get the prescription-drug cap for seniors through Congress as soon as possible.

“Georgians can’t wait another day for more affordable drugs,” he said. “Congress shouldn’t wait another day to act.”

This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.