AARP Urges Passage of Prescription Drug Legislation by Year’s End

Bill would prevent drugmakers from delaying the sale of less expensive versions

Emma Kinery,

AARP

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Published December 13, 2024

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AARP wants Congress to move ahead with legislation aimed at making it harder for drug companies to block less expensive versions of medications from coming to market.

The Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act would increase access to some lower-priced prescription drugs by preventing drug manufacturers from using tactics that delay competitors seeking to produce less expensive versions, known as biosimilars. The act passed out of the U.S. Senate unanimously in July.

On Dec. 4 AARP sent a letter, along with a coalition of other organizations, to U.S. House and Senate leaders urging them to include the legislation in any end-of-year budget package.

The bill would limit the number of patents a biologic drug manufacturer can use in patent disputes, which can block biosimilar competitors from entering the market. Biologics are a class of drugs used to treat illness and disease often affecting older adults like cancer, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. The bill aims to make it harder for brand-name biologic drug companies to engage in anticompetitive practices that slow competition from less expensive biosimilars.

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“Americans pay the highest prices in the world for our medicines because drug companies abuse our patent laws to block lower-cost versions from coming onto the market,” said Bill Sweeney, AARP’s senior vice president for government affairs. “The bipartisan Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act will lower drug prices, increase competition, and save taxpayers nearly $2 billion. We strongly urge Congress to pass the law before the end of this year.”

Under current U.S. patent law, drug makers are given some period of years with exclusive rights to their new drugs, allowing them to recoup investments to advance new treatments. Some companies, though, are “abusing the system” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a co-sponsor of the bill, has said.

AARP works to lower drug prices

Drug companies are doing what is known as “patent thicketing” or applying for multiple patents for minor changes to the same drug in order to extend the amount of time before their products face generic or biosimilar competition. Some companies have gone as far as applying for hundreds of patents for the same medication.

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“They’re taking extreme steps to maintain their exclusivity on the drug and keep the money rolling in,” said Cornyn in July. Cornyn co-sponsored the bill with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

As the year wraps up, AARP is pushing Congress to include the bill in any end-of-year legislative or funding packages, citing its bipartisan support and the potential for cost savings. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found it would save $1.8 billion for the federal government if enacted.

“Those funds could be used to offset other critical health care priorities that Congress would like to address before the end of the year,” our letter says.

Addressing the high cost of prescription drugs has long been a priority for AARP. We advocated for the portion of the 2022 prescription drug law that allowed Medicare to negotiate drug prices, something AARP has pushed for decades.

Join Our Fight to Lower Drug Prices

Millions of Americans have already seen the benefits of that law, which requires Medicare to begin negotiating the prices of certain high-cost drugs and penalizes drug companies that increase prices faster than inflation. It also capped annual out-of-pocket costs for Medicare prescription drug plans, capped insulin copays at $35 per month and made recommended vaccines free for Medicare beneficiaries.

Read more about our efforts to lower prescription drug costs and keep up with AARP’s health coverage.

Emma Kinery is a contributing writer focusing on policy issues. She has also written for Bloomberg, CNBC, NBC, USA Today and Forbes.